


The Science Nerd Next Door

by Jane_Doe_01



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Barista Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Car Accidents, Car Sex, Character's Name Spelled as Hanji, Drunk Sex, Drunken Confessions, F/M, Female Hange Zoë, Fluff and Smut, Scientist Hange Zoë, Shadis is Hanji's bestie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-11-20 21:37:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11343627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jane_Doe_01/pseuds/Jane_Doe_01
Summary: Levi Ackerman is a man who likes to keep to himself.At least that's what he was like before a certain shitty eyed Hanji Zoe moved in next door.He's a drop outShe's a nerd.He's subtle.She's bat shit crazy.Just when they thought the phrase 'opposites attract' could not get any more true.





	1. Chapter 1

Levi Ackerman is a short eighteen year old with a lot of sass. At least, that's what all the people in Cambridge, Massachusetts would say. He earned a living by working at a coffee shop called _The Legion._

"What the hell are you two doing?" he asks hearing Eren and Jean's everyday argument. It may have sounded like a _normal everyday argument_ to them, but to everyone else in the coffee shop, it sounded like an absolute calamity.

"Horseface was being an idiot!" Eren yells despite earning a glare from Levi. "He was making espresso with coffee filters."

"I was testing whether or not it would work," Jean retorts while poking at Eren's chest. "Besides, Mikasa said she would be proud if someone managed to make her good tasting espresso by using coffee filters."

Eren grits his teeth, the vein on his forehead growing more and more noticeable. "You son of a—"

"Stop it," Levi says cutting him off. "You both are idiots, you know that?" He huffs before pointing at Jean. "You for trying to make cheap espresso," he then points to Eren, "and you for yelling like you have anger issues."

"But he does have anger issues," Jean retaliates.

"Shut up," Levi growls pointing at the mess next to the coffee machine. "Clean that up, and for _god's sake,_ stop fighting. Sooner or later, you're going to drive my customers out."

"Yes Captain," they say with a small salute before walking over towards the mess. Levi watches them as they work on cleaning up.

"Damn brats and their crazy mood swings," he mutters before making his way over to his kitchen, where he finds Petra baking different pastries. He leans against the doorframe, closely observing her. "Ahem," he clears his throat and sees Petra yelp before finally banging her head on the oven roof.

"Ow," she says rubbing the top of her head. She notices him and straightens out her apron. "Captain Levi," she says frenzied. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. I-is everything all right?"

"No," Levi mumbles under his breath. "The people here are chaotic."

"Sorry?" Petra asks unable to decipher what he said. 

"Nothing," Levi replies shaking his head. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm giving you a raise." He catches her off guard and smirks as he sees her jaw drop.

"A r-raise?" she stutters. "May I ask for what exactly?"

"For being the only normal employee working here," he replies before turning to leave only to be stopped by her.

"Captain," Petra says fumbling around with her apron. "I-I was wondering if you'd like to be my d-d-date to the Spring Formal. Oluo was suppose to go with me, but we broke up last week and now I have no one to go with."

He raises an eyebrow at her proposal. "The Spring Formal?" he asks with interest. "But won't people find it weird if your date is an eighteen year old drop out?"

"I don't care about what people think," she says looking up at him. "You've been so busy lately. All through this month, we've had a surge of customers coming in and out of here. I just thought that you needed a break."

Levi thinks for a moment before finally telling her his decision. "Very well," he says watching her hazel eyes gleam. "I'll attend the Spring Formal with you. When is it?"

"Next Friday," she says with a smile spread across her face. "At Chicago Central High."

"I'll be there to pick you up at eight," he says before exiting the door. He pauses, not turning around. "And Petra," he says with his back still facing her. "It's Levi to you."

* * *

Later that night, Levi relaxes on his couch with a glass of red wine. He smirks remembering that all the seniors have midterms. Lucky him, as a high school drop out, he doesn't have to stress out over stupid midterms and other shitty exams.

He closes his eyes and relaxes, turning on the radio and listening to Ed Sheeran's _Shape of You._ He hums along with the music, taking a sip of wine every now and then. Suddenly, a knock on the door jolts him back to reality.

"What the hell," he murmurs setting his wine down on the small coffee table in front of him and turning off the music. He frowns as he opens the door, discovering a girl about his age standing in front of him. He looks up at her face and finds her staring at him with her eyes freaking _beaming._

He analyzes her up and down. She's wearing clothes most people would find in a thrift shop. An old and tattered yellow shirt with cheap black skinny jeans and black combat boots. Her 'look'—if he can call it that—is finished off with an over sized zip up hoodie. "Hi!" she exclaims flamboyantly, causing him to flinch. 

"What the hell?" he asks staring at her.

"Not what the hell," the girl corrects him, "who the hell." She extends her right hand. "I'm Hanji Zoe."

His eyebrow raises and he continues to stare at her hand before finally looking up at her face. "Why are you at my door?" he asks not trying to sound like a dick. His eyes grow wide as Hanji starts laughing at his question. "What?" he says trying his best to glare a hole through her.

"Nothing," she says still recovering from her laugh. "I'm sorry to disturb you so late. I just showed up to tell you that I'm your new neighbor. I'm new in this city and I thought I should try and make new friends, starting here."

He nods. "I'm Levi," he says still reluctant to shake her hand. She flashes him a tooth grin and Levi continues to examine her. She has light tan skin which he guesses is her natural skin tone, and auburn hair that he _swears to god_ is thrown up in the messiest and greasiest ponytail he's ever seen. He tilts his head and examines her facial features. Her nose is far from common, long and hooked like that of a witch. 

 _What if she is a witch?_ Levi wonders. _That would explain why she ruined the peaceful night I had planned._ His eyes hover over and make contact with hers, and what he sees stuns him. She has freaking anime eyes, big and chocolate colored expressing her flamboyancy. 

"Well Levi," she says finally breaking the silence. "I guess I'll be seeing you around then?" She extends her hand one more time. He stares at it for a while, unsure of what to do. Letting out a huff, he finally takes her hand and shakes it, aware that she's not going to back away. Her hands are rough and calloused, and she smells of chemicals.

"Bye," she says with a smile. His heart leaps when he looks into her eyes. They did _something._ He's not exactly sure what, but they were more than enough to receive attention from him.

There aren't many things Levi Ackerman finds interesting.

However, Hanji Zoe is now one of them.

He smirks.

This is going to get interesting.

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi meets two of Hanji's, ahem, "friends."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> Just a note to let you guys know that I will be updating regularly since I have a lot of free time (I'm on summer vacation).

Levi wakes up at two in the morning, only to hear loud thuds coming from the apartment next to him. 

"What the _hell_ is she doing," he grumbles scratching his raven undercut. The constant thudding stops, and he once again lays his head on the cheap and uncomfortable pillow. Ten minutes later, he hears another thud.

"That is fucking  _it,"_ he snarls jolting up from his bed. Grabbing a shirt, he tugs it on and runs out of his apartment. "Hanji!" he thunders knocking on her door. He grabs the doorknob and shakes, only to find the door to her apartment unlocked.

 **"Hanji Fucking Zoe!!!"** he yells storming inside. He enters her living room and witnesses a potential mess. Books lying everywhere, on the shelf and off the shelf. And there, sitting in front of a table, midst of all the clutter, is Hanji. She's scribbling notes down as she has a disarray of chemical-ish  _who knows what_ set out on the table in front of her.

"Hanji," he says walking up to her and grabbing her by the shoulder. It may be seen as rude, but Levi doesn't care. He pulls her towards him and down to his height, cringing at the smell in her mouth. _Did she brush?_ he thinks inwardly.

"Oh hey Levi," she says with a grin. Her freaking anime eyes emit some kind of beam which apparently don't line up with the eye bags underneath them. Levi lets go of her shirt, staring at her angrily with a scowl on her face.

 _"Oh hey Levi?"_ he asks emphasizing every word. "What exactly do you mean by that? I was standing at your door, practically  _barking_ your fucking name out and waiting for you to open it. Are you saying that you were oblivious of my presence this whole time?"

Hanji flashes him a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that," she says embarrassed. "I've just been so busy with working on my latest project. Second semester of college starts tomorrow and I've been so occupied with moving that I completely forgot about my project. Anyways, it's a huge grade and it's going to ruin the perfect GPA I have if I don't finish it on time. It's what our annoying professor assigned us as half our grade for the midterm."

"You're in college?" Levi asks with a raised eyebrow. He's sure that college students don't look as young as she does. Instead of being offended, Hanji guffaws at his question.

"Yeah," she retorts. "You know, not a lot of people ask me that question." She pats him on the shoulder, which makes him squirm. He's not use to physical contact, and he doesn't like it. But of course, it's two in the morning, so he decides to let it go.

"Not a lot of people are attentive of my age," she continues. "I'm seventeen and I moved here so I could attend Harvard. My roommate from back at the dorms, she was a _bitch._ Trust me on that.I had to tolerate her for a semester at the least. Only then was I allowed to move into an apartment."

He stares at her for a while. "Why are you telling me all of this?" he asks crossing his arms. It's not like he's interested in her life.

"Because you asked," she says with a shrug. "That and because I like to talk."

"I can tell," Levi says in a bored voice. 

Hanji decides to quickly switch the topic around. "Why were you  _barking_ outside my apartment?" she says heading back to the original topic of the conversation. 

Levi sighs. "I could hear weird thuds coming from my place. In case you haven't noticed, it's two in the morning and some people are trying to sleep."

"Sorry," she says with another embarrassed look on her face. "I just needed Sawney and Bean's cooperation for the experiment."

"Sawney and Bean?" he asks.

"Sawney and Bean," she repeats. She points to the small table behind him, and he jerks at the sight of a small glass cage holding a scorpion and what he thinks is a tarantula. He quickly steps away from the cage, only to trip on a book and fall on the floor. 

Unfortunately, the glass cage drops too. 

"Get those things away from me!" Levi says crawling away from the broken glass. He shrieks as the tarantula moves closer to him. What frightens him even more is when Hanji picks it up with her _bare hands._

"Come on Bean," she says bringing the tarantula closer to her face. She smiles at it before dropping him in another biological habitat. "Sawney no!" she cries as the scorpion moves farther away from her. "Levi," she calls him, "help me catch Sawney!"

"No way," he says his voice higher than normal. "I'm not going anywhere near those two _things,_ and you shouldn't either!"

"But they're family," she argues.

"No they're not!" Levi let out another shriek as the scorpion starts moving towards him. Hanji takes the opportunity and scoops Sawney up before dumping him in the same biological habitat as Bean.

"That's enough trouble for tonight," Hanji says putting the habitat on the window sill. "Sorry about that," she says turning towards him.

Levi gets up off the floor, dusting off his shirt and sweatpants. "Tch," he says clicking his tongue. "Is it even legal to have those things as pets?"

"They're not pets Levi," Hanji says defensively. "They're my family."

Levi once again clicks his tongue at her remark. "Sure they are. That explains why you're experimenting on them."

"I'm not experimenting on _them_ ," she counters. "I'm experimenting on their venom. Anyways, I'm sorry for all the noise I made. I promise, I'll try and keep it down."

He nods before leaving her apartment and heading back to his own. Lying in bed, he thinks about how crazy his new neighbor is to treat a scorpion and a freaking tarantula like they're her family.

Little does he know that Sawney and Bean are the only remnant of what Hanji can call family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> I'm basing this fan fiction off some very cannon things. The part where Levi's a coffee shop owner came from how Levi would open a tea shop if he weren't fighting in the Survey Corps. But no one really drinks tea nowadays.  
> And as for Hanji...we all know her obsession with science (it's Levi's fetish and we fangirls and fanboys all know it).


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing Levi sees after opening his door is the toothy grin on Hanji's face.

  
"Hi new neighbor," she says with another gleam in those chocolate anime eyes of hers. "Can I ask you for some help?" He analyzes her with a raised eyebrow. She's holding three large paper grocery bags filled with who knows what.

  
He sighs. "What do you want Shitty Four Eyes?"

  
She snickers after hearing the new nickname. "Shitty Four Eyes," she repeats. "That's about the most endearing thing anyone's said to me since I've first moved here!" The way her voice hits a forte makes Levi want to cringe. "Anyways," she says trying to balance the three grocery bags, "I was hoping you could give me a lesson on how to cook."

  
Levi swears that his eyebrow shot through his forehead and straight towards the ceiling. "Why?" he says with a certain curiosity prodding in his mind.

  
"You wouldn't want your new friend to starve to death," she says creating those god damn puppy eyes. "Would you?"

  
Levi scoffs. He can tell just by looking at her that she doesn't know how to cook decent food. She's probably living off ramen cup noodles. Despite catching her bleak and obvious lie, he leans against the doorframe. He's clearly amused by why she wants to learn how to cook.

  
"That's not the reason behind why you want a decent cooking lesson," he says while watching Hanji's face twist and convey something more sheepish. "Tell me why, and I'll help you if I feel like it."  
Hanji blinks. "If you feel like it?" she asks clearly unsatisfied by Levi's end of the deal. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" she yelps. "You absolutely have to help me!"

  
"Tell me why and I'll help," Levi argues effortlessly.

  
Hanji sighs with defeat. "Fine," she says with a huff. "You see, I have a date coming over. We could've gone to a restaurant, but me being the idiot I am, I had to tell him that I was making dinner. Trust me, I ended up regretting it as soon as I said it."  
Levi groans. "Then why did you say it in the first place?"

  
Hanji shows him her happier-than-usual shit eating grin. "I told you already. A, I'm and idiot. And B, my my friend Nanaba been trying to make me meet new people. I told her that I'd rather go on a date with my long time friend and lab partner Moblit so that things would be less awkward."

  
"That still doesn't explain anything about why you want to cook for your date," Levi counters.

  
Hanji sighs and feels her shoulders slump. "Truth is, I've been feeling a lot like a loner recently. I've never been in a relationship before and I'm pretty sure I've been trying too hard to get a boyfriend recently."

  
"You think?" Levi asks with a small smirk appearing on his face.

  
Hanji rolls her eyes. "Can you please help me?"

  
Levi contemplates for a while. "Fine," he says at last. "But only on one condition. You do what I tell you to do. The second you do something I don't like, you're out. I'd rather not have you making a mess in my kitchen."

  
Hanji squeals and hugs him. "What the—"

  
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!" she repeats over and over again. 

  
"Let go of me you Shitty Four Eyes!" he says trying his best to break himself away from the embrace. She pulls away and slowly jumps in place. "Take your shoes off and get inside," he says shutting the door behind her.

  
Hanji does as he tells her to and follows him into the kitchen. "Wow," she says looking around and taking in the view. "You're place is neat." She touches the granite countertop and feels something wet come in contact with her skin. She brings her fingers closer to her and sniffs. 

  
Clorox wipes, she says raising an eyebrow. "Hey Levi," she says gaining his attention. "Since you made such a creative and endearing nickname for me, why don't I make one up for you?"

  
"Hanji," he says glaring at her. "Don't you fucking dare—"

  
"Clean freak," she remarks causing Levi to spit out the tea in his mouth. She ponders about the nickname for a moment. "Clean freak and Shitty Glasses. We should create a comedy show or something."

  
Levi tries his best to glare a whole through her, though his efforts are futile. Despite being annoying, he would be lying if he said he didn't like Hanji Zoe. She was interesting in her own weird way. There aren't a lot of things Levi Ackerman finds interesting. 

  
"Okay," Hanji says looking around the kitchen like an alien. Levi must be a foodie or some kind of a food nerd because she can see a bunch of different kitchen utensils. "What are we making?" 

  
"Lasagna," Levi replies while rummaging through the fridge and pulling out a bunch of ingredients. Hanji swears that she has no idea what half the things inside his fridge are. "Do me a favor and take out all the kitchen utensils. I'll set up all the ingredients we need."

  
“All right," Hanji says feeling quite a bit alienated. "What utensils do we need?"

  
“A large skillet,” he lists out loud as Hanji runs around the kitchen trying her best to get the utensils. “A large pot, a medium pot, a lasagna pan, a large colander, a few sheets, a large slotted cooking spoon, a large wooden cooking spoon, and grab me one of those knives. Make sure it's one of the bigger ones.”

  
“Got it,” she says setting all the utensils on the countertop. She looks over at Levi with a huge smile across her face. “What?” she asks noticing his glare.

  
He rolls his eyes before setting all the ingredients on the countertop next to the utensils. “This you asshat,” he says grabbing a bigger knife from his set.”

  
“Please don’t stab me with that,” Hanji winces before seeing him set the knife down on the countertop. “Oh,” she says with relief. Her attention shifts over to the huge array of ingredients. There's tomatoes, beef, vinegar, olive oil, onions, and a bunch of other ingredients. “Woah,” she says already drooling. “This is going to be some good lasagna!”

"Stop talking and start working," Levi says authoritatively. "First we have to preheat the water." Hanji takes the large pot and fills it with water before setting it on the stove and turning on the heat. "Okay, now heat the skillet and throw in the ground beef. Hanji does as he says and cooks the brown beef.

"How long should this stay?" she asks.

"Five to ten minutes," he replies. "Now take the knife and cut the onion, bell peppers, and garlic. After a few minutes, throw it in with the beef." Hanji does exactly what he tells her, humming a strange and familiar song Levi can't exactly recall. "What song is that?" he asks curiously.

Hanji yelps at the sudden question. "Heavy dirty soul," she answers. "It's pretty popular since it's by Twenty one Pilots." Levi raises an eyebrow. Hanji listens to Twenty one Pilots? She didn't exactly strike him as the…emo type. Hanji apparently knows what he's thinking, but continues to sing anyway. But this time, she sings with the lyrics.

"Gangsters don't cry therefor therefor I'm," she sings. "Mister Misty-eyed therefor I'm. Can you save, can you save my, can you save my heavy dirty soul. Can you save, can you save my, can you save my heavy dirty soul. For me~, for me~." she continues, "Can you save my heavy dirty soul?"

"Enough with the singing," he cuts her off trying to hide his amusement. "Pour the beef and vegetables into the medium sized pot and add the tomato ingredients." Levi cringes as Hanji starts cutting the tomatoes. "God damn Hanji!" he yells. "Didn't anyone tell you that you're suppose to quarter tomatoes and not just cut them?"

"N-no," she stutters. "I've been living off nothing but ramen noodles and stuff from the vending machine this year. Might not have any real nutritional value, but it's cheap and enough to keep me alive."

Huh, so he was right about the ramen noodle thing.

"Okay," Levi says washing his hands with soap and water. "The last part is boiling and draining the lasagna. Then we finally get to assemble it. Considering how you've probably never been around boiling water, I'm going to help you out." She flashes him a smile and her anime eyes beam again, except this time, target show gratitude instead of her usual cheery nature.

"Take the noodles and slowly put them into the boiling water," he instructs. Hanji does as he says with all the noodles except the last one. She dropped it into the water a bit too fast and had some boiling water splatter on her.

"Fuck!" she yells in pain. "Levi, what do I do?!" He looks down at her hand and sees a huge red scald.

"You dunk your hand in cold water," he says quickly guiding her hand to the sink. "You're an idiot Hanji! Any person with common sense would know that you run your hand in cold water after getting a burn!"

"My IQ level is 189," she deadpans causing Levi to stare at her.

"Those tests are fucking absurd," he retorts while pointing at the couch in his living room. "Go sit down. I'll take care of the freaking lasagna and put some ointment on that wound. It'll leave a mark if we don't treat it fast enough."

In normal situations, Hanji would argue. But seeing as how Levi cares about her, she fights the urge to say anything. It makes her question whether or not Levi now views her as a friend.

Meanwhile, Levi heads over to the kitchen and shuts the gas off. "Shitty Four Eyes," he murmurs. "Always causing trouble." He runs into the bathroom and grabs a tube of Neosporin. _Hopefully, this'll help the burn heal before her skin gets permanently marked._ Without another thought, Levi walks into the living room and sits down next to her. "Show me your hand," he says holding his hand out. She takes it from her lap and places it into his.

"Does it hurt?" he asks with concern lacing his voice.

"N-no," Hanji stutters. "I'm just feeling the urge to itch it." She can't help but appreciate Levi's concern for her. Who knows, maybe he'll be her first friend after Nanaba.

"Well don't," he says applying the ointment onto the wound. "The last thing you should do with a burn mark is—"

"Itch it?" she asks cutting him off. "Were you in medical school or something?"

Levi scoffs. "No," he says getting up from the sofa. "Just keep the burn covered with ointment." He hands her his tube of Neosporin. "I'm guessing you don't have anything decent at home, so keep it. Pay me back later."

"Thanks," she says with a smile. "You know Levi," she continues, "you and I might actually become friends."

"Sure," he says pointing towards the door. "Now go home and rest that hand."

"But what about the lasagna?!"

Levi sighs and rolls his eyes. "I'll assemble it and send it over. When's your date?"

Hanji checks her digital wristwatch. "Shit!" she yelps looking up at him. "It's in another ten minutes! I have to go get ready! I'll leave my door open, you can drop it off when you're done."

"Sure," he says walking back into the kitchen.

"H-hey Levi?" Hanji asks poking her head through his door.

"What?"

"Would you like to join me and my not-yet-but-soon-to-be boyfriend?" 

"Maybe some other time," he says diverting his attention towards the lasagna. He waits for Hanji to leave, and when she does, he does the unthinkable.

For the first time in forever, Levi managed to smile.

 _Maybe some other time,_ he thinks while looking over at the door. _Maybe some other time._

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji gets back her results for the midterm project and test.

It's been a week since Hanji's moved into her apartment. She has to say, she was beginning to like it there.

She doesn't really talk to Levi. Just a few casual waves as they move on with their busy lives. Though, a man like him intrigues her greatly. She would have to try an experiment on him sometime.

Anyways, it's a normal Friday in everyone's perspective. Everyone minus the students at Harvard. The results for the midterm test and project come out today. A very faithful Hanji Zoe sits at her desk and shivers, running through every possibility of what could happen if she fails.

 _If I fail this,_ she thinks, _I'll loose my perfect GPA. If I loose my perfect GPA, then I'll never get a good job. If I don't get a good job, I'll never be able to work with some of the most ingenious minds in the field of science. If that doesn't happen, I'll never be able to find the cure to love obsession disorder. I'll never be—_

Hanji yelps as her friend Nanaba comes up from behind her. "God," she says clutching her chest. "You scared the heck out of me Nana."

"Relax," Nanaba says sitting down next to her. "I'm not the scariest thing you're going to be witnessing today. Midterm results come out today, remember?"

"Of course I remember," Hanji says drumming her fingers on the desk. "The project was worth half the midterm grade and the test was worth the other half. I studied my ass off for the test. It's the project I'm worried about."

"You'll do fine Zoe," Nanaba says with an eye roll. "You worry too much."

"No," Hanji counters. "You don't get it. I tried doing the whole entire thing in one night. Levi literally walked over to my apartment and started complaining about how I was making such a ruckus."

"Woah, woah, woah," Nanaba says stopping Hanji before she can continue. "Who's Levi? Is he like your boyfriend or something?"

Hanji scoffs. "No Nana," she says shaking her head. "He's my neighbor and I've only known him for like a week."

"Is he nice?" Nanaba asks with curiosity perking in her mind.

Hanji twists her face into a dour expression. "Sure," she says with a shrug. "He was nice when I first met him. I guess the reason behind why he got a bit rude last week was because I ruined his sleep. Poor guy."

Nanaba snickers. "Well Hanji," she continues sarcastically, "you do have that effect on people."

"Why thank you," Hanji says wiggling her eyebrows. They both burst into a laughing fit, only to stop when they notice Professor Keith Shadis walking into the classroom.

"All right ass hats," he says picking a heaping pile of papers from off his desk. "As you know, today is the day midterm results are out. Which means, tomorrow is You're Grounded Day." He laughs boisterously, his annoying voice ringing in the ears of all his students.

"How is he still employed?" Nanaba whispers causing Hanji to snicker. Professor Shadis veers his eyes over at her.

"Zoe," he says sternly. "Do you mind sharing with the rest of us what exactly it is that you find so funny?"

"N-no," Hanji stutters. "We were just talking about how we're going to excel in life with your teachings and lessons." The whole entire class starts giggling at her remark, Shadis gritting his teeth before finally passing out papers.

 _I studied so freaking hard for this,_ Hanji says in her head. _I can't fail, not now. I didn't graduate high school a year earlier than everyone else just so I could fail my freaking midterm._

She closes her eyes as Professor Shadis drops the paper on her desk. She slowly opens them and stares down at the paper, shocked at what she sees. "B minus?!" she screeches causing everyone to turn their heads towards her. "A freaking B minus?!"

She looks across the room at Professor Shadis, only to see him with a smirk across his face. "This has to be some sort of mistake!" she says standing up and waving the paper from across the room.

"It's no mistake Miss Zoe," he says with his face once again returning to his usual scowl. "I'm afraid that a B minus is a B minus."

"But you know I'm better than this," she says arrogantly pointing at the paper. "I'm one of the brightest minds you have. Please, let me redo the test."

"And why exactly should you have the chance to retake the test?" he asks with a raised eyebrow. "I have other students, and I don't allow that for them. It wouldn't be very fair to them, now would it?"

"Please," Hanji begs. "I've been distracted lately. I can't tell you with what since that's personal, but I haven't had much time to focus on education lately. Please give me another chance."

Professor Shadis huffs. "See me after class," he says irritated by her constant plea. "We'll discus something then."

She sighs with relief before sitting back down in her seat. "What did you get?" she asks Nanaba.

"An A minus," Nanaba says with a smile. Clearly she's happy with what she got.

Hanji knows that no matter what, she has to negotiate with her son of a demon professor and retake that test.

After all, she didn't come all this way to fail.

* * *

 

"Professor Shadis please," she begs. "I can't have this B minus ruin my GPA. It'll ruin my whole life. Just give me time to study, I can retake the test and redo the project by next week."

"Zoe," he says with his voice austere. "You know it doesn't work that way."

"But please," she says practically falling on her knees. "I've been through so much to get here. This freaking B minus will ruin me. Just let me redo it, please."

Professor Shadis sighs in defeat, he knows he can't argue with her. "Fine," he says. "But six days. That's all the time you get to study and redo the experiment. Show up here on Thursday and I'll have you take the test."

Hanji beams. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!" Without another thought, she wraps her arms around her professor, who emits a deep shade of red as he comes in contact with her.

"Yeah, yeah," Shadis says as she breaks the embrace. "Listen Zoe," he says before she exits the room. "You are not to speak of this to anyone. And think of this as a favor. You owe me sometime in the future."

Hanji nods and zealously skips out of the room.

* * *

 

The next six days are very exhausting for poor old Hanji.

Before she knows it, it's Wednesday. That means she only has one additional night to study for the retake. She's at the university's library, sitting in front of a mountain of books. She hasn't gotten a single wink of sleep in the past five days.

 _Sleep is for the weak,_ she reminds herself as she rapidly jots down a bunch of notes from the textbook. _If I can go five nights without sleep, then I can go one more._

She's already finished the project, focusing her attention solely on studying for the test portion. It's still three in the afternoon. There's still so many topics to cover, study, and review. She sleepily flips through the pages, yawning with every passing minute. She continues jotting down notes only to jolt hearing hher ring tone.  
"I have got to change that thing," she murmurs picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"What the hell do you mean by hello?" Nanaba asks infuriated. "Look Zoe," she says with authority audible in her voice. "I know you've been pulling all nighters all this time, and that you've been ignoring all my calls because I know. Please for god's sake, get some sleep. Or I'm going to tell Shadis to not allow that retake."

Hanji would open her mouth to protest, but at this point she's feeling too tired. "Fine," she says. "But only for an hour. I've got to hit the books after that. I feel drunk Nana, do you mind driving me home?"

"Sure," Nanaba answers. "In fact, I'm right outside the university. Can you walk there?"

"Yep," Hanji says faltering as she gets up. "See you there."

She grabs her books and wobbles every now and then. She grips onto the walls for support. Taking a deep breath, she continues to walk, eventually exiting the building and spotting Nanaba's car. She waves weekly and the car pulls up in front of her. "God Hanji," Nanaba says looking at her. "You really need some sleep. Get in." Hanji nods and stumbles as she gets into the passenger seat.

Her apartment isn't that far away. The drive is just a few minutes. "Thanks Nana," Hanji says woozily with sleep washing over her. She trips on the sidewalk yet regains her balance.

"Zoe," Nanaba says rolling down the windows on the car. "Do you need help?"

Hanji shakes her head. "Don't worry," she says trying her best to sound reassuring. "I'll manage." She walks into the building and reaches the door to her apartment. Reaching into her pocket, she tries her best to fish out the keys. "Shit," she murmurs seeing as she can't find them. Her eye lids droop, and she slowly leans against the door frame. Sleep conquers her and she hits the ground with a thud. She's knocked out and fast asleep.

Levi on the other hand, has had a very strenuous day at work today. Those god damn brats Yeager and Kirschtein had another one of their disastrous arguments. Right now, what he needs to do is sit on his couch and sip red wine while watching the latest episode of _Attack on Titan._

His vision of peace soon fades away as he witnesses Hanji lying on the floor, fast asleep.

She's snoring, her sleeping figure partially slumped against the door. He kneels down and examines her. Her head is in an awkward position, which will most likely ache if he doesn't adjust it for her. "Hanji," he whispers. 

No response.

"Hanji," he repeats louder this time.

Still no response.

Left with no other option, he grabs her by the shoulder and shakes her. "Hanji!" he yells causing her to jolt awake.

"What?" she asks completely clueless as to what's going on. Her eyes are still half lidded. She brushes a few strands of hair away from her face before finally saying something to him. "Leave me be Levi," she says once again slumping against the door. "I'm pathetic and miserable and a horrible person. I'm going to fail the test tomorrow."

Levi wisely chooses to avoid her words. Instead, his focus is on her eyes, which are drooping with large eye bags. He raises an eyebrow as she once again starts snoring. "How many days have you been awake?" he asks her.

"Five," she says still only half conscious. "I need to stay awake for one more and study." She reaches out and grabs Levi's shoulder, using it to balance herself. Her plan fails unfortunately, and she ends up falling straight onto him. 

"Stay awake and study," he mocks her. "Nice plan Shitty Glasses." He hoists her up and leans her against the doorframe as he scrambles through his jacket pocket for the keys to his apartment. He finds them and quickly opens the door, carrying Hanji inside bridal style before throwing her on the couch and closing the door.

He takes off his shoes and stares at Hanji's sleeping form with his arms crossed to his chest.

Yep, Levi Ackerman's vision of peace is most definitely gone. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are wondering why Hanji wants to find a cure for obsessive love disorder, right? 
> 
> I can't explain it now, but it will be explained sometime later in the story (I'm trying to keep the suspense up).


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji decides to tell Professor Shadis about her new psychology project.
> 
> Unfortunately, it involves Levi.

Hanji wakes up discovering that she's being watched.

She groggily shifts around on the couch before shooting up. "Where am I?" she says scratching her head. 

"In my house shithead," Levi says from the small passageway where the bedrooms and bathrooms are connected to the living room. "Next time, try falling asleep in your apartment."

"Oh," Hanji says with sleep still looming over her. Suddenly, realization strikes. "Shit!" she says bolting up from the couch. "What time is it?"

"Seven thirty," Levi replies casually. He watches her as she scrambles trying to put on her old and clanky combat boots. "You've only gotten about twelve hours of sleep after being awake for five days straight. Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"To Professor Shadis," she says not paying heed to him. "He was nice enough to let me redo both the project and the test. I was suppose to be there half an hour ago. Great," she murmurs, "now I'm going to have to run."

"Well don't get hit by a car," he says before she heads out the door. "It would be a shame to have my second neighbor die too." His mind drifts back to his old neighbor, a cranky old man in his mid seventies. He died from a stroke two to three weeks before Hanji moved in.

"Thanks," she says running out the door. "And Levi," she says sticking her head back in. He looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "I owe you one."

Levi smirks.

Oh yes she does.

* * *

"Professor Shadis!" Hanji says practically breaking the door to his room down. She's out of breath and she _swears_ she's covered in mud due to the _unfortunate accident_ before arriving at the university. Apparently, some driver was being an asshole and skidded over a puddle, dousing her in a mud bath.

Hanji's cheeks burn up as she feels Professor Shadis analyzing her. She fixes her askew glasses and smoothes out her unkempt hair, which she didn't give any attention to before leaving Levi's apartment. She looks down and notices that she's been wearing the exact same clothing for the past five days. She hasn't changed since she's gotten the midterm results.

She clears her throats and sets the project papers down on his table. "I'm sorry professor Shadis," she says looking down at the linoleum floor. "My midterm project this year will be a fail for sure. But I have another project idea in mind that I'm actually quite interested in conducting. Do you mind if I share it with you after I'm done taking the test?"

Shadis nods. "I'd like to hear what your new project is. Besides, I'm assigning one tomorrow anyways, so I don't really mind if you tell me your topic." Hanji nods and takes the test packet in his hand before sitting down at a desk.

The next two hours are painstakingly strenuous for her. She relentlessly chews on the end of her mechanical pencil while slowly filling in the bubbles on the scantron. A sigh of relief escapes from her mouth as she fills in the last bubble. "I'm done," she says getting up and placing the packet and scantron on Professor Shadis' desk. 

He raises an eyebrow while looking up at her. "What's this?" he asks showing her the papers from the psychological experiment she conducted. 

She clears her throat. "It's an experiment I conducted on Sawney and Bean. Bean's a tarantula and Sawney's a scorpion. The whole point was to see if putting them in the same biological habitat with the same food would cause them to become hostile towards each other."

"This isn't a proper psychological experiment Zoe," Professor Shadis says rubbing his temples. "The results were bleak and obvious. Everyone else wrote a research assignment on more interesting topics." He looks at her in the eye. "Is something going on? You're usually very enthusiastic about stuff like this. You've been loosing your knack lately."

Hanji once again shifts her eyes down to the linoleum floor. "The problem's personal," she mumbles. "My family hasn't exactly been…normal lately."

Shadis huffs at her response. "Sit down," he says pointing at the chair in front of his desk. She looks at him with curiosity written all over her face. "Don't worry," he continues, "I'm not going to ask you about the problem. I just want you to sit while I run the scantron through the machine."

Hanji reluctantly sits down, now staring at the mahogany desk. She doesn't even realize that Professor Shadis has been gone for ten minutes straight. "Ninety six percent," he says smacking the paper down in front of Hanji. She jolts and stares at the paper, a frown appearing on her face.

"That's it?" she asks unimpressed by the results.

"What?" Professor Shadis asks with a frown appearing on his face as well.

She throws her head on his table. "I'm such a fucking failure," she says banging her head repeatedly. "Five days studying straight and all I get is a _fucking_ ninety six percent."

"Zoe," Professor Shadis says with a ring of authority in his voice. "You know the test isn't what you should be worrying about. It's the research experiment you conducted. I gave you a second chance, which I have never given any of my students. Yet you still earned a C plus on it."

"A _fucking_ C plus?!" she squeals causing her professor to cringe. "But that's worse than what I got the first time! My GPA will go down!"

Shadis nods. "Zoe," he says grabbing her shoulder. "Your GPA can go back up again. You're still at a 4.0 though. All the other A's you've earned have managed to keep you at a ninety five percent in my class. It's only one C plus, and you're a bright mind so don't worry about it." 

Hanji starts calming down. _Come on Hanji,_ she says internally. _You still have a ninety five in this class, which means you still have a 4.0. Quit freaking out!_

"What was your new project idea?" Professor Shadis asks snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Well," Hanji says fidgeting around with the hem of her Abercrombie shirt. "You know how I just moved into an apartment because my old roommate from the dorms was being a bitch?" She laughs nervously causing Professor Shadis to raise a brow. "Well I was thinking about basing an experiment off my new neighbor."

"What's the experiment about?" Professor Shadis asks leaning closer to her. Hanji smirks feeling victorious that her idea was enough to intrigue the grumpy _Keith Shadis._

"You see," she continues, "Levi is a very, how do I say this, subtle kind of man. My project idea is figuring out how to drive a calm and quiet person off the edge and towards the brink of madness." She grins and flashes him a toothy smile.

"Oh," Professor Shadis says leaning back in his chair. "That's actually pretty clever." Hanji's smile grows wider after hearing him say that. "I look forward to reading your research paper Zoe."

"Thank you," she says rising from her seat. "I've got to get going," she says walking towards the door. "I have to make it up to a friend for being so nice to me last night."

She heads out the door, only to stop in her tracks.

What Levi did for her the night before was really nice.

Should she really be doing this to him? They could become friends sometime in the distant future.

"Nah," Hanji thinks aloud before continuing to walk outside the building. She squints and her eyes land on a coffee shop not that far away. _The Legion,_ she reads before shrugging. _I've been awake for five days straight. I sure could use some coffee._

Without another thought, she walks across the street and makes her way over to the coffee shop. She smiles as the rich aroma of coffee hits her from _outside_ the building. "Hmmm," she says moaning and throwing her head up with bliss.

"Shitty Glasses?" a deep and familiar voice asks from behind her. She turns around and discovers it to be her grumpy and stuck up neighbor.

"Levi?" she asks with an amused smile on her lips. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here," he replies with an eye roll. Hanji raises an eyebrow at his answer.

"Shouldn't you be in school or something?" Hanji asks only to regret it once she sees the usual frown on his face deepen.

"I'm a dropout," he retorts.

"Oh," she says awkwardly. "Sorry about that."

"Why are you apologizing?" he asks staring at her with a bored look on his face. She looks up into into those steely grey eyes of his. She could see the curiosity lingering in them.

"No reason," Hanji says shaking her head. "I just came by for some good coffee. Is this place good?" Hanji immediately regrets asking the question. _He works here you dumbass,_ she yells at herself in her head. _Why would he says anything bad about this place?_

Instead of receiving the reaction she thought she was going to receive, she receives a shrug from the short man. "Overall yeah," he says casually. "But things could be better if Jeager and Kirschtein wouldn't argue everyday." She laughs at his answer. He smirks and holds the door open for her as she walks inside.

Hanji moans as the aroma of coffee grows stronger, causing Levi to raise a brow. "This place smells so freaking good!" she says enthusiastically. "I don't think I've ever been to a coffee shop with an aroma this strong." She looks over at Levi, only to find him closely analyzing her. He reminds her of what she looks like while conducting an experiment.

"Grab a seat," he says pointing to the array of unoccupied tables. "I'll get you a menu."

"No need," she says stopping him. "I'll take a mocha cappuccino." He nods before heading off. _This place is neat,_ she says looking around. Setting down her backpack, she takes the table closest to her. She closes her eyes and continues to sniff the heavenly aroma around her. Unfortunately, she doesn't even notice when Levi walks up to her with her drink.

He stares at her for a while. Smirking while noticing the crooked smile on her face. "Do you have a fetish for coffee or something?" he asks suddenly. Hanji jolts with surprise.

"No," she says looking up at him and taking the beverage from his hands. "Coffee has a special connection to when I was little. I didn't have a very normal family life, but I learned to forget about all of that as soon as my grand-maman set a cup of coffee in front of me."

Curiousity prods at Levi's mind. "Mind if I take a seat?" he asks receiving a nod from her. _Eyebrows is definitely going to dock down my paycheck,_ he argues in his head. He takes a deep breath before dragging a chair over. _Who gives a damn anymore._ "You're French?" he asks with a raised brow.

"Yep," she answers. "One hundred percent. What about you?"

"I'm French too," he retaliates. "Can you speak fluently?"

"No," she says playing around with the mug in her hands. "Not being able to speak it fluently has always been one of my deepest regrets."

"Why?" he asks curiously.

"Because half the time," she says looking him in the eye, "I had no freaking idea what my family was talking about. I literally just sat at the dinner table, clueless as to what's going on." Levi smirks again, amused by her and her family life. "What about you?" she asks. "Can you speak fluently?"

"Oui," he replies. "Oui je peux. Je savais parler français depuis que j'avais trois ans. C'était ma langue maternelle avant de déménager ici."

Hanji stares at him with what Levi calls a stupid smile plastered across her face. "Wow," she says amazed by his fluency. "What does that mean?"

He rolls his eyes. _It sure is easy to make a big impression on her,_ he thinks inwardly. "All I said was that I can speak French and that I've been speaking it since I was three since it was my native language."

"You were born in France?"

"No," he says looking away. "My mom moved here from France. She couldn't really speak any fluent English, so I learned how to speak French. It wasn't until a few years later when I was forced to go to school since it was a law. I had to learn English."

Hanji smiles. "Well I find your fluency in French very charming." She takes another sip out of the mug only to realize it's empty and out of mocha cappuccino. "Well," she says disappointedly. "That's all of my mocha cappuccino." Levi stands up and she hands him the mug. "Thanks," she says with her shit eating grin growing wider.

He smirks. "No problem," he says before turning around. "It's my job."

"Wait Levi!" she calls out stopping him in his tracks.

"What?!" he says turning around.

"Maybe you can teach me some French later on," she says with her teeth showing in that grin of hers. Her anime eyes beam and he swears he can feel his heart red lining. He gulps and tries his best to respond.

"Sure," he says trying to sound casual. Hanji giggles before exiting the coffee shop.

 _That damn four eyed nerd,_ he thinks as he watches her walk across the street and eventually move away from his field of vision.

* * *

 It's been two days since Hanji's had to retake her midterm exam. Her sole focus right now, is on how the _hell_ she's going to incorporate Levi into her 'brink of madness' experiment. 

"I can think about this later," she says waving the thought out of her head. She jumps onto her bed and pulls the blanket up to her chin. "I need sleep," she says with a yawn. Suddenly, her phone starts ringing, causing her to yelp up in bed. 

"Nana," she says irritatedly, "I swear to god, if that's you calling me…" she pauses deciding it's best for her not to finish that sentence. She checks the caller ID and is caught by surprise when she sees it's her grandfather calling.

"Hello Pépère?" she asks picking up the phone. "What's wrong?"

"Your Grand-maman," says a raspy voice from the other end of the line. "She's had a heart attack. Apparently, she has a coronary disease and won't be alive that much longer."

"What?!" Hanji shrieks as she hears the news. "When did all of this happen?"

"Two weeks ago," he replies. "Just after you moved out. We found out about the coronary disease six years ago though."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she says frantically trying to stuff clothing inside her duffle bag. Tears fall down her eyes as she continue to pack. "I'm coming over right now. I'm driving over so it'll take me about sixteen hours."

"No Zoe," her grandfather says, "you don't have to—"

She hangs up on him before he can finish the sentence. "Damn it!!!" she screams throwing her phone across the room. "Damn it!!! Fuck!!!!" She wails harder, her body slumping against the bedroom wall.

Her grandparents have been _hiding_ this from her for the past fucking six years. "That's it," she says getting up. "No more lying and no more cluelessness!" she yells zipping up her duffle bag. She runs out of her house and over to Levi's. 

She knocks loudly, her hands bracing her on the doorframe. Levi opens the door, surprised to see her in such a state. "Hanji?" he asks analyzing her carefully. He looks up and sees her face streaked with tears.

"I need another favor," she says falling to her knees. "Please."

"Get up," he huffs. She feels so weak that she starts using the wall to support herself. "What do you want?"

"I want you to come with me to Chicago," she says with another tear escaping from her eye. Levi stares at her, not sure about whether or not she's joking. 

"Why?" he says leaning against the doorframe.

"You're the only one I know who I can trust and who can speak French," she replies brushing tears away from her eyes.

"What does me being fluent in French have to do with any of this?"

Hanji laughs at herself with pity. "Remember when I told you about how everyone in my family would talk in French at the dinner table and I would have no fucking idea what they were talking about?" Levi nods. "Well I just found out that my grand-maman has a heart disease and that both my grandparents have been keeping that from me. The only time I didn't know what they were saying was when they were speaking in French. I'm such a fucking idiot!"

"Please Levi," she says pulling him into a hug which catches Levi off guard. "I need your help. Please," she says pulling him closer to her. 

"Fine," he says pushing her off him. "When do we leave?"

"In an hour," she says with a smile on her face.

"I'll be outside my door by then," he says going back inside and slamming the door in Hanji's face.

He huffs and slams his back against the door.

Why is he doing this?

He barely knows her.

It suddenly hits him why.

Because Levi understands what it feels like to be lied to by family.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So poor Hanji is having to deal with this tragedy. Fortunately, she has Levi to help her get through it.
> 
> Also, I hope I made it pretty clear in the story that the reason behind she's bringing Levi along is because her family use to talk in French whenever the were hiding something from her.
> 
> If it's not clearly understandable, please comment. I always appreciate some good advice.


	6. Road Trip Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji and Levi take a road trip.
> 
> Lots of Levihan bonding time.

"Levi!" Hanji yells literally  _banging_  her hands on his door. "Are you done?"

Levi grunts in response to Hanji's question. "That's the seventh time you've asked me that question in the past hour," he thunders at the closed door behind which Hanji is standing. "You said you'd give me at least an hour to pack."

"I didn't actually mean it!" Hanji explains from the other side of the door. "It doesn't take anyone a fucking _hour_ to pack!"

"Hey!" Levi yells marching up to the door and angrily opening it. He grabs Hanji by the collar of her plaid shirt and pulls her down to his height. "Listen," he says gritting his teeth. "It's fucking _one in the morning_ here, and other people are _trying_ to sleep. Stop fucking _yelling your lungs out!"_

He finally lets go of her shirt and Hanji opens her mouth to protest, but immediately shuts up due to one of his intimidating glares. "One more thing," he adds. "You're the one who asked _me_ for a favor, so back off and let me do this my way. The only fucking reason behind why I'm coming with you is because you were begging me, and I know from past experiences how much it sucks to be pitied and not helped." 

Hanji looks down at the carpeted floor outside his apartment. "Sorry," she murmurs. "I'm just worried about my family. You must know what it feels like, right?"

She receives one of Levi's strange looks. It's not exactly a glare, and it's not a typical glance. More of something in the middle with a hidden meaning to it. "No," he finally answers. "I don't know what it feels like."

 _So he doesn't have a family then?_ she asks herself. "Do you want to talk about it?" ~~I really want to help you.~~

 ~~Yes~~ "No," he replies. "I've learned to cope with myself my whole life. What makes you think that I'll talk to you about my life problems?"  ~~Fucking help me already!~~ Levi comes out of the apartment a few minutes later holding duffel bag and a suitcase. 

Hanji can't help but giggle. "Are you really bringing all of that?" she asks recovering from the laugh. "You know we're only going for a week, right?"

He scoffs at her question. "Of course I know," he sneers. "A man needs a fresh change of boxers every morning and every night." She raises an eyebrow at his statement. He changes his undergarments  _twice_ a day? That seems extreme for any clean freak.

"Yeah," Hanji retorts. "And a woman needs a fresh change of both a bra and a pair of panties every day, yet I only change my undergarments once a day." She switches the shoulder in which the duffle bag's strap is resting, and Levi can't help but stare at her chest. Her breasts are so small, it's almost as though she doesn't have any.  ~~Is she even a woman?~~

"So I was wondering, how did you become a clean freak?"  ~~Does your past have something to do with your OCD?~~ Hanji asks. "Are you medically diagnosed?"  ~~ _Do_  you have OCD?~~ Noticing his struggle with the luggage, she holds the door open for him, waiting for him to answer her question.

 ~~I'm a phase one germaphobe.~~  "I'm not medically diagnosed," he replies. "I guess my obsession for having things clean came from when I was a kid. I was from New Orleans, and it was a really dirty place. I didn't really like it that much."  ~~Diseases freaking killed my mother. I became so obsessed with cleanliness because I was afraid that if things weren't clean, other people around me would die.~~

Hanji nods realizing that he doesn't want to share his actual story with her. They quietly walk over to her car and load the luggage. Levi cringes while closing the trunk door, hearring the trunk creak so loud worried him. "Are you sure it's okay to take this car?" he asks as she climbs into the driver's seat. "You're not planning on killing me, are you?"

She laughs boisterously at his question. "Ha!" she snorts. ~~You're one of my only freaking friends right now.~~  "Why ever would I kill you?" she asks in a teasing and sarcastic tone. "No seriously," her voice turns more serious. "I wouldn't kill you even if I wanted to. You're too nice for that."

He turns and glares at her. "I'm not nice," he says trying to be intimidating. Unfortunately, he just makes Hanji laugh. "I'm a dick, I'm a prick, and I'm a cock."

"No," Hanji replies. "You _have_ a dick, prick, or cock." She looks over at him and sees him _watching_ her. Not just staring, but literally  _watching._ It makes her wonder if Levi finds her  _amusing._ "And what's so bad about being nice?" 

 ~~It makes you weak and vulnerable.~~ "Nice is for losers," he replies casually. 

"Than what's for winners?" she asks curiously. She's only known Levi for what, a week and a half? So far, this man intrigued her more than any other aspect from her boring life. For starters, he's compatible with her. No just compatible in a I-want-to-talk way, but also in a Can-I-be-your-friend way.

"Fear," he deadpans.  ~~I've been fucking living with it my whole life.~~

Hanji scoffs at his answer. "Boy," she retorts. "I've been living out of fear my whole life and I haven't been anything other than a loser." Levi looks over at her. She's been living with fear her whole life? He has a nagging feeling that family problems aren't the only thing Hanji has on her shoulders.

He clears his throat and decides to ask her. "What do you mean you've been  _living out of fear your whole life?"_ ~~What's your problem Hanji? I want to know.~~ The smile on her face disappears and is quickly replaced with panic. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"N-no," Hanji stutters. "It's not that I don't want to tell you, but it just worries me that you've gained my trust so quickly. It takes a lot longer for most people to get there with me and it's scary how I've only known you for a week and a half but I _want_ to tell you."

"So then tell me," he says with a shrug. "I don't think you've noticed, but I'm not the sociable boy-next-door kind of guy. I'm an anti-social clean freak who dropped out of high school and is currently working at a coffee shop. I don't have anyone to tell anything, so I'm pretty sure it's alright if you tell me."

She turns to him and smiles before inhaling deeply. "My mom," she says in one breath while looking back up at the road in front of her. "She was diagnosed with DID and Obsessive Love Disorder. It was one of the reasons behind why I was treated like a fucking loser in junior high."

"What's DID?" he asks.

"DID stands for Dissociative identity disorder," she continues. "It's one a person is characterized by two or more distinct personalities. My mom had three of them. One was herself, the second was her abusive foster mother, and the third was my dad's." Hanji brings one hand from the steering wheel over to rub her forehead. "I got bullied so much cause of that. They thought that since I was all happy and zealous, I was crazy like my mom."

Levi continues watching her as she talks. The streetlights fall on her face and make it look almost angelic. He has seen prettier girls in his light, that is one thing he can say with a _hundred percent positivity._  He's screwed with a bunch of them too, but he doesn't know what it is about Hanji that makes her seem more beautiful than they are. Perhaps it's because she's more relatable to him, considering how they both have troubling pasts.

"That's not all," she continues. "The Obsessive Love Disorder thing practically ruined my life. Nobody cared and everyone avoided me. Except for the occasion on which they wanted to beat me up. My mom was fucking  _obsessed_ with getting my dad to love her. She made me wear dresses and all that shit to make me become the perfect daughter. She went insane after finding out that my dad was fucking another woman behind her back. She would vent her anger out on me and at the end of the day, things turned out horrible."

Hanji drives the car on the edge of the highway and stops. ~~I need a hug.~~  "I need a break," she says wiping the small tears that made it's way out of her eyes. She opens the car door and gets out, careful not to get hit by any passing cars. Levi follows her and finds her sitting on top of the trunk. 

He does the unthinkable.

He pulls her down and hugs her.

Hanji gasps before giving into the embrace.

For the first time in who knows how long, Levi has let his guard down and let someone in. He let a friend in.

Friends.

Huh.

So that's what they are now.

"Let's go," he says stoically before breaking the embrace. "It's a fucking sixteen hour drive and we've barely been in there for an hour. We're losing moonlight you shitty woman." She chuckles at his comment.

 ~~It's nice being friends with you.~~ "Let's go," she says with a smile plastered across her face. It brings Levi some kind of reassurance that she's smiling again.

After all, a Hanji Zoe without a smile is no Hanji Zoe.

* * *

 

Levi spends the next hour or so contemplating on whether or not he should give Hanji a tidbit of information about his past. He sighs, finally coming to a decision.

"I was six," he says causing Hanji to jolt.

"What?"

He inhales deeply. "I was six when my mom died," he continues. "After that, I had no one to take care of me."

"What about your dad?"

Levi scoffs looking out of the window. "My mom was a prostitute," he resumes. "She started working after moving to America. She was from France, though." He gulps finding it uncomfortable to continue speaking. "My dad was one of her random customers, she got pregnant with me. She decided to keep my though, thinking it would be _great_ to raise a child."

"She thought right," Hanji says looking over at him. His heart leaps the second her anime eyes start beaming.

"Anyways, she died when I was six due to pneumonia. Then some guy named Kenny came around and picked me up. Taught me how to hold a knife and steal, told me that it would help an orphan living out on the streets. Then I became a street thug," he says with his voice breaking. "Erwin Smith pulled me out of the streets and into a school. He even offered me a job as a barista in a coffee shop. I don't think that—"

"Stop," Hanji says hearing his voice crack. "You're not ready to tell me yet. Tell me when you feel as though I've earned your trust."

He  _smiles._

It seems like a miracle that one day, an angel named Hanji Zoe just dropped out of the sky and moved in next to him.

That day is also the first time in a  _long time_ where Levi thanks God.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hanji's backstory is a bit inspired by the book "The Bones of You," which is a psychological thriller.


	7. Road Trip Part 2

Thirteen hours. Levi has been sharing a space with Hanji for a whole fucking thirteen hours.

He could keep listing reasons for exactly _why_ the whole idea of him coming with her to Chicago seems wrong. For starters, she's going there for her family. Him tagging along just seemed odd. He has another  _very_ explicit reason as to why going to Chicago was a bad idea. A very small sliver of his past is there, and no matter how small the sliver, none of it was at all good.

"We're in Fort Wayne right now," she says trying to keep her eyes open. "The drive should last us about another three hours, four hours if there's heavy traffic." Levi sighs after hearing her tidbit of information. He looks over at her and finds her features illuminated by the warmth of the sunlight. She reminds him of Summer, as strange as it sounds. Warm, playful, and always welcoming. Her features reflect that as well. Her tan skin, greasy and matted hair along with her long and perched bird-like nose. 

Hanji can feel his eyes _drilling_ into her. She's received plenty of looks from people who think that she has problems with personal hygiene, but this is _not_ one of those looks. She tries her best not to look over at him and ask him what's on his mind, but alas, her plan fails. "What's on your mind?" she finally asks.

He snaps out of his daze and turns away from her, looking back outside the window in front of him. "Nothing," he says with his usual scowl. Hanji tries her best to suppress a yawn, knowing that Levi would probably make her pull over and have him drive. She can't do that. She likes sitting behind the wheel, it gives her a sense of authority.

Something she feels she lacks in reality.

 _You're fucking thinking too much,_ she tells herself.  _Quick, start up a conversation or something!_ "Did you do anything about work?" she asks.  _Seriously?_ she asks before inwardly slapping her self. Levi turns to her with a raised eyebrow.  _That's your approach to starting a conversation? Petra was right about you all those years ago. You really are a fucking loser._ "What I meant was, did you tell you're manager that you're not showing up for the rest of the week?"

"Yeah," he says with a scoff. "You know Four Eyes, I may have dropped out of high school, but that doesn't mean that I lack common sense. It was the first thing I did after you threw that fit of yours." He notices Hanji purse her lips together and form a tight line.  _Shit,_ he says knowing that he hit a nerve. "I'm sorry."

"N-no," she says with a laugh. Levi can't tell exactly  _what_ kind of laugh it is and whether or not it's out of pity or self conscious. He doesn't  _want_ to know. "I'm sorry I did that. I-I," she stutters, "I just become so desperate when it comes to family. I've lost so fucking much in my life, I just got so fucking pissed after finding out my grandparents were _lying_ to me for the past six years of my life."

Levi knows what being lied to feels like.

And he doesn't like it.

"What about you're dad?" he asks. So far the only thing he knows about her family is that her mother suffered from both DID and Obsessive Love Disorder, and that she was abused in the process. But what about her father? All she's mentioned about him is that he was fucking another woman behind her mom's back and her mom got pissed, thus leading up to her abuse.

Hanji gulps. "He was an unfaithful bastard," she blurts out in a single breath. "He didn't care about me, my mom, or poor baby Morgan."

"Who's baby Morgan?" he asks with curiousity prodding in his mind.

"My dead brother," she says once again parking the car at the edge of the road. "He died due to a high fever. Huh, you'd think that after how disfunctional my family is, it's absurd that my brother died due to something as harmless as a fucking fever." She reaches into the backseat and grabs a fresh water bottle, practically pouring the whole thing down her throat. "Do you want some?" she asks handing him the bottle.

He shakes his head and she shrugs, closing the lid on the bottle and throwing it into her back seat. She slams her head against the seat's headrest. "Sorry for stopping," she says while once again buckling herself up. "I get that you don't really want to spend this much time with me. I'm going to try my best to drive at the highest speed limit and cut the travel time." Levi looks over at her with a frown decorating—if frowns decorated—his face. Is that what she thinks? That he doesn't want to be with her?

She's wrong.

She's so _fucking_ wrong.

"Get out," he says unbuckling himself. 

"What?"

"Get out," he says a bit louder. "I'm driving. Switch Seat with me, _now."_

"Levi it's fine," she says waving him off. He grabs her hand and pulls her face closer to his. The huge sagging eye bags under her usually beaming eyes is the last straw.

"No it's not," he retorts. "You've been driving for fucking thirteen hours straight, and who knows how long it's been since you've last slept." She opens her mouth to protest his accusation but is quickly shut up by his most intimidating glare. "Before you even think about arguing with me, let me tell you that I'm not taking no for an answer."

Truth be told, he expects her to continue arguing with him. But she does _none_ of that. She just smiles and nods before unbuckling herself and slipping out the door.  _That was fairly easy,_ he says opening the passenger. "Get in and get some fucking sleep," he says as he passes her on the way to the driver's door. They both settle into their seats and buckle themselves up. "Don't tell anyone I drove," he says while turning on the car engine.

"Um, why?"

"Because you shitty woman," he answers, "I don't have my fucking license with me."

"Wait, Levi—" she starts only to be cut off by him.

"Too late," he says before ramming his door on the gas pedal. The only thing he hears for the next twenty minutes is the harsh rhythmic sounds the road makes while going over the bumps accompanied by Hanji's argumentative statements.

* * *

_One hour,_ Levi motivates himself to keep driving. _One hour and then you're done._

Levi fucking hates long drives. They require too much time, and too much patience, both things he has a limited amount of. He doesn't know what motivated him to take the wheel from Hanji, but maybe it was because she was actually driving for a full thirteen hours straight. His stomach churns.

Or maybe it's because she actually asked him about his past and tried her best to understand them.

He knows that he's driving and that he shouldn't do it, but he looks over at her sleeping figure anyway. She's calm and peaceful, a serenity almost. Knowing Hanji Zoe, serene would be the last word anyone would use to describe her. She's asleep and it's not like that time he saw her knocked out on the floor because she hadn't slept for five days straight. Her eyes       are—obviously—closed, her eyelids glossy and reflective for non-makeup reasons. He smirks noticing her eyelashes. They're so freaking long and dark, outlining the crescent shape of her closed eyes in a _beautiful_ way.

Beautiful…when he first met her, it honestly felt like the last word he'd ever use to describe her.

Levi's eyes drift over to her bird-like nose. It's long and hooked, unlike his own upturned one. It reminds him of how unlike they are. She's warm like the summer with her tan skin, deshelved brown hair, and chocolate orbs while he represents winter with his skin as fucking pale as a ghost with a neat raven undercut and steely grey orbs. 

He wonders how they have so little in common, but so much to share.

Hanji yawns and slowly opens her eyes, using her hand to shield the light as it shines through the window. "I knew I should've gone with the anti-glare lenses," she murmurs.

"Pardon?"

She yelps at his question. "Sorry," she murmurs again. "I was just saying how much I regret not buying anti-glare glasses. I can barely see a fucking thing in this dumbass sunlight, and my visions already as bad as it can fucking get. I'll be blind in the next few years, mark my words."

Levi looks back in front of him, trying his best to suppress a smile.

It's not that he doesn't _want to,_ it's because he _can't._ He's cursed and he fucking knows it.

The last time he smiled, his everything was ripped away from him. It's almost as though the universe hates him for being happy and will do anything to push him into a fucking lonely abyss. Now he finally has someone to call an actual friend and someone he can talk to. 

In his mind, it's like a tug-of-war on whether or not he should push her away.

Hanji Zoe is a gift.

A gift he wonders he deserves or not.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi meets Hanji's Pépère with a side of humiliation.

"Ten more minutes," Hanji says prompting Levi to keep driving. 

They're in Chicago and  _on Auburn Drive._ Hanji smiles looking at the shops and houses they pass by. She finds it hard to believe that this place use to be her home before she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. That there use to be a time where she was an innocent blank slate who has no idea what infidelity was or what her mother's psychological illnesses were. 

She remembers that there was a time where she was normal.

A smile graces Hanji's face as her eyes land on Mike's house, and she remembers how she and her posse had good times annoying the fuck out of poor old Uncle Nile. They were the  _Queer Quartet,_ as she liked to call it. Just her, Nanaba, Mike, and their secret member Uncle Nile Dock, who had no idea he was a part of their posse.

She laughs out loud remembering how they had annoyed the hell out of him to the point where he'd resorted to putting CCTV cameras up all around the house. She realizes that she's been thinking too much about the bad aspects of this city, and that she's never considered thinking about the good aspects of it.

Maybe that's because good times never last. Mike has probably moved away to some fancy shmancy college to become a writer, and Uncle Nile…well, he didn't really like her. Her mind then drifts off to how Nanaba and Mike use to be old high school sweet hearts, and how Mike proposed to her the other day before she left. _"Nanaba?" he asked with a shudder. "Would you make me the happiest man on Earth and become Mrs. Nanaba Zacharius after completing your education?"_

Something tells her that won't be happening.

Levi on the other hand, is trying his best to both drive and monitor Hanji. He sees the frown on her face and begins mimicking it. "What's wrong?" he asks snapping her out of her thoughts. He gets that long drives bring out people's worst thoughts, especially when they're not driving, but it scares him that Hanji's this quiet. It scares him that Hanji's not  talking at all.

"Oh nothing," she says turning to him. "Just reminiscing over the memories I have from here. My teenage years may not have been all that normal, but I actually had some good times here."

"Care to share?" he asks trying his best not to sound too interested. "I really have nothing else to do, and driving is as boring as fuck."

Hanji grins at his remark. "Well," she starts, "I was mostly thinking about how the Queer Quartet would go around the neighborhoods on this street reeking havoc." Levi looks over at her with a raised eyebrow. Hanji's loud, noisy, and annoying, but he doesn't believe she's capable of reeking havoc. Hanji notices his confusion and bursts into laughter. "Don't worry," she reassures him. "We weren't going around the neighborhood vandalizing people's houses, we were just annoying the fuck out of people by pulling pranks on them."

Levi suppresses a smirk and looks back at the road in front of him as she continues talking. "We did a bunch of stuff like take their chicken McNuggets and replace what was inside with a salad. We also added stuff like hair dye into people's shampoo, though it was temporary, it was hilarious watching some guy run out of his house with pink hair. There was this one guy though, that we would freaking prank every single day."

"Uncle Nile pretty much hated the Queer Quartet, but what we didn't let him know was that he was a part of it. It just wasn't as fun pranking other people as much as it was pranking him."

"What's the Queer Quartet?" he asks interrupting her.

"It was a group made up of me, my friend Nanaba, her bestie and future husband Mike Zacharius, and the forever funny Uncle Nile, though he was our secret member." Hanji leans back into her seat and looks out the window. "I guess I forgot all that since a bunch of shit took over my life."

"Hey," Levi says looking back over at her. "You're the only one who can control your life, never forget that." _Bullshit,_ he tells himself. _You barely have control of your own life, and here you are giving Hanji false hope._

"Take a right," Hanji instructs him while readjusting the position of the GPS. "Just another two to three minutes and we'll be there." She drums her fingers in the space between her and Levi. "A year," she says aloud, "it's been a whole fucking year since I've last seen these people." Hanji rarely prays, but this is one of those days in which she is praying her heart out for her Grand-maman.

"We're here," she says as Levi parallel parks in front of a fucking huge mansion he isn't even sure belongs to Hanji. It's nautical themed with a light blue exterior accompanied by navy blue accents. He looks over at Hanji and gulps.

He shouldn't have come.

"Are you sure this is the right house?" he asks while his eyes scan her clothing. She's wearing a simple red and black plaid shirt with loose fitting boyfriend jeans. Her clothes accompanied by clanky and old combat boots and an oversized military jacket. All her clothes are like those out of a thrift shop. He's always thought that Hanji had grown up in poverty. If not, at least a middle class house hold. But this? He was _way_ off.

"Let's go!" Hanji exclaims unbuckling herself. As confusing as confusion can get, he follows her and gets out of the car, stopping at the trunk to open it and retrieve his stuff. "What are you doing?" she asks.

"Getting my stuff," he replies casually.

"No," Hanji waves it off. "Forget about the stuff! We've gotta go inside. Who knows how my gran-maman is doing? And you haven't even met my family yet." _She_ glares at _him_ this time. "The luggage can wait," she says after noticing that her glare had an effect.

Without waiting for his answer, Hanji grabs his hand and practically drags him along with her. Due to his short stature, he has a difficult time keeping up with her long strides. She impatiently rings the doorbell. After waiting a moment with nobody at the door, she repeatedly hits the doorbell over and over again. A while later, an old man in his early to mid sixties answers the door.

"Pépère!!!!" Hanji exclaims jumping on his and rapping the old man into a hug. He gasps at the sudden contact and wraps his arms around her. She pulls away and plants a kiss on his cheek. "How are you?" she asks frantically. "How's grand-maman? Is she okay?"

"She's sleeping right now," he says before planting a wet kiss on Hanji's forehead. "I'll go wake her up." He slowly takes small and rigid movements away only to be stopped by Hanji.

"Let her sleep," she says bringing her voice down a notch. "How is she, though? What did the doctors say?"

Hanji's Pépère sighs. "She's not going to be around much longer," he says with a shaky voice. "She'll be gone by the end of this month most likely." Hanji gives a frown and her eyes grow dull. Pépère's eyes flutter over to the door, where he finds Levi awkwardly standing. "Who's this?"

Hanji looks at the doorway and finds Levi standing there, stiff and rigid. He makes eye contact with her and she smiles. "This Pépère," she continues walking up to the doorway, "is Levi." Hanji's grandfather walks up to him slowly, inspecting Levi up and down. Levi's cheeks flush and he looks over at Hanji, his expression clearly saying _HELP ME!!!_

"He's short," Pépère states blandly. Levi turns a bright shape of crimson and his eyes look as though they're about to pop out of their sockets.

"Pépère!" Hanji scolds.

"But he is dear," he says looking back over at Levi. "Short men make women uncomfortable while having sex. For starters, they can't kiss and fuck at the same time. Your aunt married a man shorter than her and said they had all sorts of trouble while making love."

Now it's Hanji's turn to blush crimson. "He's not my boyfriend," she blurts out. Through all the time she's known Levi, she's seen herself as strictly platonic with him, she can't even imagine going out with him. Her grandfather turns around and stares at her.

"You got married and you didn't even tell us?" he asks with a raised eyebrow. Hanji frantically shakes her head. 

"No," she bursts out. "He's just a friend. He's been really supportive since I've moved out of the dorms and into an apartment. He's my neighbor too."

"Just a friend," Pépère murmurs. "That's exactly what your aunt said before she got married to that short man." Pépère slowly walks away, only to stop in his tracks. "Call me Pixis," he says with his back still facing Levi.

Hanji exchanges looks with him, chocolate eyes on icy grey.

He sighs and his cheeks start returning to their normal pale color.

They're both thinking the same thing, though. 

_This is going to be a fucking looong week._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know what you're thinking, why on earth would I make Pixis Hanji's grandfather.
> 
> The answer is…because I can. Just kidding, I did it because I felt that Pixis is this really intimidating man who has a lighter side to him. Sorry the chapter was so lame, but I promise you guys the next one is gonna get interesting.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji takes Levi on a tour around the mansion while simultaneously working on her psychology project *wink*

"Let's go explore!" Hanji says like a four year old out of a Disney TV show.

"What the—?" before he's given the chance to continue, she grabs him by the sleeve and pulls him along with her. "Hey you Shitty Four Eyes!" he yells trying his best not to trip over his own feet as she drags him to who knows where. "Where the hell are we going?"

Hanji laughs while leading him through a huge corridor filled with what he thinks is ancient and expensive art. Where does her family get the money for this stuff? Finally, they arrive at a huge room with painted red walls. There's a bunch of different furniture sitting around the room, from an oddly shaped mahogany coffee table to a huge L-shaped sofa. The room looked amazing though, despite it's odd handy work. Whoever decorated this place must be a genius at interior designing.

"Like what you see?" Hanji asks staring at him with a gleam in her anime eyes. He nods and goes back to looking around the room, staring in awe. "My Pépère made it. He was one of the best interior designers in the city. People really loved his work." Levi walks into the room and shivers as his feet hit the carpet. They're brown and have a velvety touch to them. Hanji giggles noticing his reaction to the carpet. "That carpet use to be my favorite part of this room," she continues. "Feels like velvet, doesn't it?"

"You're rich," he says monotonously. Hanji nods while slowly running her right hand over the sleeve of her left one.

"Yeah," she says with a sheepish smile spreading across her face. "It's nothing I'm really proud of." He raises an eyebrow at her. _Why would she not want any of this?_ he asks himself.

"Why not?" he asks with curiosity sparking inside him. He's grown up in poverty his whole life, spending half of it as a street thug. All he's been chasing after is money. Money, money, money. Why on Earth would she not want all of this?

"Might sound weird," she continues with a frown, "but I also got bullied for being rich. People said so many fucking horrible things to me through high school. I managed to keep that thing about my mother a secret through most of the three years I attended high school, but people found something new to pester me about…money."

"They said that I was stuck up because I was rich, that the only reason why I had any friends was because I was paying them money to be friends with a science nerd like me. Then one day, this new guy transferred to our school, and what sucked was that he told everyone about my mom. The next few months of my life were made miserable by the bitches who went there. I couldn't take it anymore. Two weeks before my junior year ended, I decided to test out and skip my senior year of high school. Luckily, I passed and made it into Harvard." She looks at him with a frown, her anime eyes now filled with sorrow. "I've tried my best not to look back on that stuff."

Levi gulps. "Then why did you share that stuff with me?"

Hanji chuckles. "I don't know," she says with a shrug. "I guess it's because we're somewhat relatable. We both have pasts we don't want to talk about. I just thought I needed to talk to someone who went through the same thing I did." She sits on the carpeted floor before lying down, Levi following her every move. "I use to do this as a kid," Hanji says looking up at the ceiling. "It use to be my safe spot for whenever something went wrong. Too bad the apartments in Cambridge don't have luxury carpets like this."

She looks over at Levi and finds him staring at her intently. His eyes, she thinks with a smile. They're so beautiful, just like him. If she had gotten her way, she could stare into those eyes forever. They seem to represent comfort and honesty, two things she has never experienced at the same time.

"You're staring," he says breaking the eye contact.

She looks away from him and back up at the ceiling. "Sorry," she whispers. "I was just wondering about your eyes." He looks over at her, curiousity written all over his face. "Who did you get the color from?"

"My mom," he says propping himself up on his elbow. "Why?"

"Nothing," she says sitting up. "It's just…what's the word? Pretty."

Levi scoffs at her comment. "You sound like a love struck teenager."

"Says the guy who's been drooling over my living room!" she retorts. "By the way, does it live up to your cleaning standards?"

"Eh," he grunts. "It could use a bit of sprucing up and a bit of dusting maybe." He looks over at her with a mischievous grin spread out across his face. It takes her a while to realize that he's joking.

"Why you…" she says before picking a random book and smacking him in the arm with it.

* * *

 "Here monsieur," Hanji says doing the best French impression she can, "is the kitchen!"

Levi looks around completely dumbstruck. The kitchen was a beautiful combination of ebony wood paired with a white granite countertop. Everything was accented with silver. "Do you mind?" he asks reaching for one of the cupboard doors.

"Go ahead," she prompts him. "I brought you here for a reason you know. Nothing like watching Levi fall in love with stainless steel cooking utensils." He rolls his eyes and opens the cupboard, finding multiple vintage China plates and stainless steel eating utensils. He closes the cupboard and opens another one. This one is filled with beautiful drinking glasses, a set of sixteen and decorated with unique designs.

"Like it?" she asks wiggling her eyebrows. "It's handcrafted. And so are those," she says pointing to to corner of one of the granite countertops. Levi's eyes grow wide as his eyes fall on a rustic tea set, decorated with Chinese dragons and cherry blossom trees.

"It's beautiful," he says speechless. "This is rustic, isn't it?"

Hanji nods with curiousity booming inside of her. "You can tell just by looking at it?"

"Yeah," he replies. "I know it's dumb, but I use to have a hobby of collecting tea sets. I think I still have it, maybe I can show you sometime." Levi pauses in his tracks and turns around. He finds Hanji standing behind him with another shit eating grin on her face. Shit, he says to himself. He realizes that he's the one talking at two hundred miles per hour while Hanji's standing there and watching him.

She wants him to talk.

That little shit.

So that was her plan all this time.

"What?" Hanji asks with a smirk graving her face. He grits his teeth and frowns. So that was her plan this whole time? To get him to talk while she stands there and observes him?  
"Nothing," he finally replies stepping away from the tea set. "Where do you want to take me next?"

"The library," she replies casually. "It's right next to the front door. You can go check it out. I'll be there in a while." Levi shrugs and walks away while Hanji pulls out her iPhone and opens the notes app.

**How to Drive a Calm Person to the Edge of Sanity**

_Step One: Make them talk about themselves and also make them realize that they sound like a narcissist._

Hanji grins before putting her phone back in her pocket. "Psychology Project, here I come."

* * *

 

Hanji walks into the library, trying to look as calm as possible. If she had her way, she would be laughing her lungs out, but that would only make her appear as suspicious.

"Took you long enough," Levi murmurs as she walks into the room. She hands him a bottle of beer and he accepts it, raising an eyebrow before opening the bottle. "You drink?" he asks curiously.

"Shhhh!!" she says bringing her voice down to a whisper. She looks around her in attempt to see if anyone besides them is present in the room. "Of course I drink," she says with a scoff. "May age limits on alcohol be damned!!!" she says before clinking her bottle to his.

"What type is it?" he asks cringing at the strong taste of the alcohol. Beer wasn't suppose to be this strong.

"Struise Black Damnation VI," she replies pouring more alcohol down her throat. "It has a thirty nine percent alcohol content, if you're wondering. Probably why it tastes so strong." Levi nods before taking another sip. The burning sensation in his throats had calmed down, making him go in for another sip.

"So," he says trying to kickstart a conversation. "You like books?"

"No," Hanji says smacking her lips together. "I don't like them, I love them. I garuntee I've read every book in this god forsaken library. What about you?" she asks. "Do you like reading?"

He shrugs. "Can't say that I don't like it," he continues, "I haven't read one in a long time though. I loved mysteries and psychological thrillers."

Hanji yelps before setting her bottle of beer on a red oak study table. "I have plenty of those," she says browsing through the shelves. "There's one here that I'm absolutely positive you'll like." Her hands skim over the books' spines, and she searches intently until her eyes land on a hardcover book with a black cover. The book's titled The Girl on the Train.

"You'll like it," she states. "I bought it before leaving to Cambridge and finished it all in one night."

"What's it about?" he asks.

Hanji thinks for a moment. "I would ruin it for you if I told you what it was about, but what's interesting is that the book was written using a series of unreliable narrators. The book won number one as a New York Times Bestseller Book. It got me hooked immediately." She takes another swig of beer. "You'll like it."

"All right," he says taking the book from her hand. "I'll probably done with this by the end of the week."

Hanji shakes her head. "Take as long as you want," Hanji says pushing the book closer to his chest. "I'm your neighbor dude, you can return it any time you want to." She flashes him a smile as Hanji's Pépère walks into the room.

"There you are," Pixis says crossing his arms to his chest. "I've been looking all over for you!" He turns to Hanji. "Your     grand-mere is awake and in our bedroom," he says moving closer to her. "She wants to see you."

Hanji nods and takes Levi's hand. "Put the beer down," she whispers in his ear. "My grand-mere is very critical about men who consume alcohol. Just ask my Pépère." He reluctantly sets the beer down on the study table and follows Hanji as she once again drags him away.

Pixis watches as both Hanji and Levi make their way up the stairs. "Just friends," he murmurs under his breath. "I'll see how long the two of you keep up this platonic charade of yours."

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi meets Hanji's grandmother. :/

"There's one thing you need to know before we walk into that room," Hanji whispers as she and Levi stand outside her grandparents' room. "No matter what happens, _do not cuss."_ She emphasizes the last three words and leans closer to him, a crazy look shown clearly within her eyes.

"Uh," Levi stands there, speechless. "Can I ask why?"

Hanji rolls her eyes. "Pépère use to cuss like crazy when I moved in to this house," she continues. "In fact, I learned every cuss word out there before I finished learning the alphabet." Levi gapes at her with a mixture of both horror and amusement. "And guess what?" she asks keeping him in suspense. "I learned and fully memorized the alphabet by the time I was three."

Levi merely blinks. "So that means you used the word 'fuck' before your flipping third birthday?" he asks only to receive a nod from the brunette. "Yeesh," he says rubbing his temples, "and here here I thought I was friends with a good influence." Hanji rolls her eyes at his statement.

"Zoe?" says a voice from the inside of the room. The question is soon followed by a hoarse cough. "Zoe, are you there?" Hanji grabs Levi's hand and drags him inside the room with her whispering a small _Come on._

Walking inside the room, he can't help but look around. The walls are painted a beautiful shade of cerulean and jade, accompanied by a four poster bed and a mini mahogany furniture set. If that's not enough to take away his breath, the stained glass windows certainly are. The windows, small, are decorated with the design of a peacock, color gracing every corner. Levi diverts his attention to the four poster bed, where he finds an elderly woman lying. Her eyes are half lidded and her crinkled grey hair is tie into a loose bun, her skin wrinkled thanks to age. He guesses she might be in her early to mid sixties, just like Mr. Pixis.

"Bonjour Grand-maman!" Hanji says walking towards the bed. She sits on the corner of the bed and wraps her grandmother into a soft and feathery hug, trying her best not to hurt her or mess up any of the hospital equipment on her body. The older woman replies by barely moving her hands in resting them on Hanji's waist. Hanji pulls away and gives a small smile. "How are you holding up?" she asks.

"Not that well," she answers trying to sit up. "Zoe dear? Do you mind stacking a couple of pillows behind me?" The woman sighs with relief as Hanji does just that. "My body doesn't work the way it use to," she says with a chuckle, expecting Hanji to laugh along with her. Instead, she receives a frown and a blank stare.

"You hid that from me," Hanji says crossing her arms. "You hid that you were sick for the past six years of your life." She takes her grandmother's hand and rubs small circles into it, staring at the slight pigmentation caused by sunlight. "Why did you do that?"

Hanji's grandmother sighs. She looks up at the brunette, her deep sepia eyes meeting with Hanji's intense chocolate ones. "What was I suppose to do?" she asks with a raspy voice. "I know you, Zoe. You were going to _Harvard,_ one of the biggest colleges in the nation. If I had told you, you would've stayed behind and insisted on going to some crap community college." Hanji's grandmother takes Hanji's hands into her own. "I knew that with what you went through, you wouldn't tthink twice before dropping your future for me."

"You're a beautiful young woman Zoe," Hanji's grandmother continues, "a beautiful young woman with big dreams and a big heart." The older woman puts her hand on top of the left side of Hanji's chest. "Your heart's the problem though," she continues, "your heart's too big for your own good. That's why I didn't tell you."

Suddenly, the woman's eyes land on Levi, and she stares at him with a raised eyebrow before looking back at Zoe. She repeats the action multiple times before finally speaking. "Who's this?" she asks. "Your boyfriend?" 

"One could wish," Hanji says causing Levi to blush a light shade of pink. She winks at him and flashes a playful smile before turning back to her grandmother. "That's Levi," she continues, "my friend and neighbor from back at Cambridge."

"Il est trop court pour une fille de la famille Zoe," the woman murmurs turning the other way. Levi's blush turns from a light pink to full on crimson. Now, Hanji may not be fluent in French, but she did know enough of it to make out what her lovely old grand-maman had said.

"Grand-maman!!!!" Hanji yelps before turning around and facing Levi. She gives him a sheepish smile and mouths _I'm so flipping sorry_ before turning back at her grandmother. "Il sait," she says in the worst Parisian accent possible. Her grandmother raises an eyebrow at her. 

"Il sait quoi?" her grandmother asks with curiousity prodding in her mind.

Hanji humphs. "Il parle Français," she says in another horrible accent which nearly has Levi cracking up on the spot. She may have the bare minimum of French nailed down, but it's not enough for her to get by without making any fluent French speaker laugh their ass off. He maintains his composure and continues leaning against the wall, trying his best not to look offended.

"Bonjour Monsier," Hanji's grandmother says pretending as though she had just laid her eyes on him. "Comment ça va?"

"Ça va bien," Levi replies monotonously. "Comment dois-je vous appeler?"

The woman pauses and thinks for a moment before finally speaking. "Appelle-moi grand-maman," she says with a smile on her face. "Je vous aime bien. Tu es parfait pour mon Zoe."

Levi gulps at her statement and turns to look at Hanji, who is staring at first him then her grandmother with her mouth hanging open. He sighs remembering how Hanji had French skills which only covered the bare minimum. He doesn't know how to respond to her comment, but luckily, Hanji swoops in and saves the day.

"We're going to go make some tea," she says getting up from the bed. "Come on Levi," she says dragging him away by the sleeve. She drags him out the door and a bit further away from it. "What were you guys talking about?" she asks with curiosity written all over her face.

"Nothing," he says turning his face away. "She just told me to call her grand-maman, that's all." Hanji gasps and covers her mouth with her hands. 

"Oh my _god!!!!"_ she yelps causing Levi to cringe. "She never opens up to anyone! If she's letting you call her grand-maman, that must mean she really likes you!" Levi stares at her, surprised at how oblivious she sounds. Does she not realize what she's saying? 

"Come on," she says skipping down the corridor as Levi stares at her. "Let's go make some of that tea." 

* * *

 

Levi walks into the kitchen and finds Hanji rummaging through one of the cupboards. "It's about time you got here," she says while looking at him through the corner of her eye. "I kind of suck at making tea, so I'd like it if you could help me out a bit. Besides, my grandparents have managed to spit out every cup of tea I've made throughout my life. Maybe your tea making skills could finally help me make that perfect cup of tea."

He merely grunts at her remark. "You can barely cook shitty glasses," he adds. "What makes you think that you're capable of making some decent tea?"

Hanji pouts at his question. "Hey," she says defensively. "I've made coffee before. Nana tasted it before and said it actually tasted good."

"Whatever," he says with an eye roll. "Do you have a kettle around here?" He looks around the kitchen and through the cupboards, unable to find one. He looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "Well?" he asks growing impatient.

Hanji searches through a large space just underneath the countertops. "Here," she says pulling out a rusty old electrical kettle. "Is this what you wanted?" He exhales deeply before taking the cooking utensil away from her. 

"Is that rust?" he asks taking a closer look at the utensil.

"No," Hanji says with a scoff. "It's the way we bought it...stailless steel with red undertones. At least that's what I think," she says giving him a sheepish grin. He scowls at her as she throws her hands up defensively. "Hey!" she exclaims with another pout. "I'm not the one who bought it! Besides, it's not like a bit of rust is going to cause iron poisoning and kill us. In fact, consumption of—"

"Stop talking," he says cutting her off. "I get it, we can use the damn kettle. Now, do you have any tea bags?" 

Hanji grins at him. "Oh," she says teasingly. "I never thought that a true tea lover would like tea bags. Too bad I don't have them. I do however, have a fresh container filled with black tea leaves." She wiggles her eyebrows before rummaging through one of the bottom cabinets and pulling out a huge wooden box. The fresh aroma of tea leaves filled the kitchen as soon as she opens the box.

He closes his eyes and lets out a breathy moan as he inhales the aroma. Opening his eyes, he finds Hanji staring at him with a look of pure amusement. "Do you have a tea fetish?" she asks trying to imitate his coffee fetish question from earlier that week. He glares at her and frowns. 

"Shut up," he says shoving the kettle in her hands. "Fill it up with cold water and set it to a boil. Since the kettle is electric, you won't need to do that. Just plug in the kettle and let it set to a boil." She does as he says and waits for his next instruction. "Do you want to visit your uncle Nile tomorrow?" he blurts out, immediately regretting it. The last thing he needs to do is make enemies in Chicago.

"It would be nice," Hanji says pondering for a moment. "But I have other plans."

He raises a brow. "Other plans?" he asks. "What exactly?"

Hanji gives him a shit eating grin which in turn makes him want to face palm, even though he's not that kind of man. "Well," Hanji says fumbling her hands around with the button on her plaid button down. "I was planning on babysitting my cousin Sasha Brause tomorrow. I thought that I might as well give Pépère and Grand-maman some privacy and romantic time by making a candlelit dinner for them. She's not going to be around that much longer. It's the least I can do for them."

"Do you want me to help?" Levi asks while brushing a thick strand of hair away from her face.

She looks at him with an _are-you-fucking-kidding-me_ look. "Levi, I can barely cook a meal for myself. No sorry, I can't cook a meal for myself at all. All I know how to make is that fucking delicious lasagna recipe you helped me make for my date with Moblit, and I don't even remember half the steps or procedures!" The raven haired man jerks at the booming sound of her voice.

"All right," he says leaning against the countertop. "How about we make a Mediterranean dish for them. Mediterranean food's off the edge and some foods are considered romantic."

"Okay," Hanji says with a nod. "So what's on your mind?"

"I was thinking fattoush," he answers. "Maybe a falafel plate along with some Baba Ganoush?"

"Perfect!" Hanji exclaims. "My grandparents were always obsessed with Mediterranean dishes. Can't blame them, they make me drool just by hearing their names." She quickly unplugs the kettle noticing the water had over boiled. "What do I do?" she asks frantically with the hot kettle still in her hands.

"Don't pick it up you idiot!" he hollers. "Are you trying to get another burn?"

"Seeing as how the first one's left a permanent mark," she continues, "not really!"

He looks at her hand as she gently sets the kettle down. The mark from two weeks ago has turned pink and now looks like a thin layer of skin over her flesh. _Shit,_ he thinks. _This is all my fucking fault. I should've checked up on it knowing she wasn't going to apply any of that damn Neosporin._ He clears his throat, trying to rid it of the forming guilt. "Did you apply the Neosporin every day like I told you to?"

"Yeah," she says while slowly pouring the boiling water into the vintage China tea set. She sets the kettle down and grabs a few tea leaves out off the wooden box. "How many should I put in each cup?" 

"One should be enough considering the size of these cups," he says with a shrug. Hanji drops exactly one tea leaf into each cup, putting the access back into the wooden box. 

"You can go sit in the living room," she says with a smile. "I'll clean up and be there with the tea. I might possibly need to help grand-maman too, since she can't move much." Levi merely nods and walks out of the kitchen, sighing as soon as his feet hit the comforting velvety carpet. He looks above the fireplace and finds a huge family portrait with a tall brown haired man and another tall auburn haired woman, the man standing next to the large chair the woman is seated in. What intrigues him even more is that there's a girl seated on the woman's lap, a girl he suspects is Hanji Zoe.

She looks relatively young, perhaps seven or eight years old. Not to mention, she looks nothing like what she does now. She's wearing a chiffon dress which is pale pink in color along with a pair of floral white sandals. Her hair is perfectly in place, tied in two adorable pigtails. He chuckles as his eyes land on her shit eating grin, which has two front teeth missing. Alas, his eyes land on her exposed arms, one of which have a shallow yet noticeable gash.

His eyes grow wide at that. _No wonder I've never seen her wearing short sleeved clothing._

"That was me when I was eight," Hanji says suddenly snapping him out of his thoughts. He turns around and looks at her right arm, which is delicately guiding her grandmother onto the velveteen L-shaped sofa. "That's my mom," she says pointing at the auburn haired woman. "And that's my dad," she says repeating the same action and pointing at the brown haired male. "The pictures from when my family use to be normal, though that all stopped as soon as turned eleven." Hanji's grandmother clears her throat. 

"Go get your Pépère," she says in an authoritative voice. Hanji nods and does as she pleases, handing her loving grandmother a cup of tea before leaving. "Dit moi si j'ai bien compris," she says turning back to Levi once she's sure Hanji's left the room and gone in pursuit of her grandfather. "Si vous avez mal au Zoe, je vous tuerai. Comprende?" 

"Tu te trompes," he retorts. Je ne blesserais jamais Hanji, elle est mon meilleur—"

"Je m'en fous," the woman says calmly. "Je vous fais confiance parce que je sais que vous êtes destiné à elle. Ne partez pas de mon Zoe." Her calm voice soon turns into a plead.

He stares at her for a while before kneeling down and taking the old woman's hand. "Grand-maman,” he continues, "Je resterai avec elle pour toujours comme ami, mais j'aime, je ne peux pas faire."

"I'm back!!!" Hanji exclaims while sitting on the sofa. She pats the area next to her and prompt Levi to sit next to her, which is what he does. Pixis takes a seat next to Hanji's grand-maman. "So," she says while handing a cup of tea over to her pépère Pixis. She then hands another one over to Levi before grabbing one herself. "How does it taste?"

Pixis takes a sip out of the cup and throws his head back. "Like heaven," he comments before smacking his lips together. "Where did you learn to make such amazing tea?"

"Levi," she says looking over at the short man. "He's amazing in the kitchen. Knows everything from how to make the perfect lasagna to making the perfect cup of cappuccino." Instead of raising an eyebrow like he usually does, Pixis gives Levi a huge smile before bursting into laughter. 

"Wow," he says recovering from his laughter. "You made Zoe do what we couldn't do in years. How do you do it Rivialle?"

"The name's Levi," he replies irritatedly. 

"Yet your French," Pixis counters. "The romanticized version of the name Levi is Rivialle. I like it better, it sounds more formal and…rich." Levi grits his teeth at that, clenching his jaw. Hanji apparently notices what's going on and senses her friend's discomfort.

"Anyways," she says trying to switch the topic around. "Levi and I were planning on babysitting Sasha tomorrow."

Hanji's grandmother looks up from the cup of tea, which she was staring at intently for approximately the last three minutes straight. "Zoe," she continues, "Sasha's twelve. She doesn't need a babysitter."

Hanji sighs with defeat. "Fine," she says throwing her hands up. "You got me. We were going to use babysitting Jean as an excuse to set up a candlelit dinner for you and give you guys some romantic alone time together."

"Really Zoe," Hanji's grand-maman argues, "it's not necessarily. Besides, the alone time between your Pépère and I are not going to be the same as when we were young." She winks at Hanji causing her to cringe. 

"Ew," she says turning away from the woman. "That was information I didn't need to know."

Hanji's grandmother rolls her eyes. "You'll find out how good sex feels soon enough," she says before winking at Levi. 

"I should go to sleep," he says setting the tea cup down and rising from his seat. He walks out of the living room with Hanji following not far behind him.

"I'll help him get his stuff and show him the guest bedroom," she says before scrambling to put her shoes on. "Hey Levi!" she says following him in the dark and opening the car trunk. "You have more stuff than me, let me help you."

"I'm fine," he says struggling to balance his luggage items. 

"Give me the duffel," she says holding her hand out. 

"No," he retorts.

"Fine," Hanji says walking away with her only duffel bag, leaving Levi in a struggle with his duffel and suitcase. 

"Hey Hanji!" he says right before she slams the door in his face. "Hanji open the door," he says in a tired voice. "I'm sorry," he says resting his forehead on the navy blue painted door. 

Moments later, Hanji shows up at the door, her hands free from her single piece of luggage. "You're welcome," she says watching him as he barely makes it theough the door. Without giving him a chance to react, she grabs his duffel and runs up the stairs, Levi frantically following her while hauling his suitcase behind him.

"Hey!" he yells meeting her on top of the stairs. "You Shitty Woman," he says with rage clearly evident in his voice. "Give me that back!" Hanji merely shakes her head before running inside what he thinks is a random room.

"Ta da!!!!" she exclaims throwing the duffel down on the floor. "Welcome to your room at the Zoe Mansion. Enjoy your stay!!!" With that, she runs out of his room and skips into another one he thinks previously belonged to her. "I'm right over here," she says poking her head out of the doorway. "Call me if you need anything!"

He nods and she retreats behind the door once again. He looks around him and stares at the room in awe. It may have been smaller, but it wasn't far off from Hanji's grandparents' bedroom. Setting his suitcase down, he falls into the bed, inhaling the clear smell of Downey Laundry Detergent.

He inhales and sighs before deciding to change out of his clothes and into his normal sleepwear, consisting of a pair of black and navy blue checkered pajama pants. He folds his clothes into a neat pile before finally sitting on his bed and opening up the first chapter of _The Girl on the Train._

One things for sure, this trip may be a pain in the ass with Hanji's grandparents, but he can trust Hanji enough to have her ease that pain.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for the helpful comments.
> 
> The fact that Jean works in Levi's coffee shop with Eren completely escaped my mind. Then I thought about making Erin and Mikasa related to Levi, but the ALSO work at the coffee shop. So I had to go with Sasha instead.
> 
> Again, sorry for the clumsy mistake and thank you for helping me catch my error. :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji and Levi set up a romantic candlelit dinner for Hanji's grandparents.
> 
> I'm not very good at writing chapter summaries. :/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for the helpful comments.
> 
> The fact that Jean works in Levi's coffee shop with Eren completely escaped my mind. Then I thought about making Eren and Mikasa related to Hanji, but they ALSO work at the coffee shop. So I had to go with Sasha instead.
> 
> Again, sorry for the clumsy mistake and thank you for helping me catch my error. :)

 

Hanji wakes up the next morning surprised by the sight of Levi standing in her family's kitchen.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asks creeping up behind him. The kitchen's aroma is breathtaking, and she can't help but close her eyes and take it in. She sways back and forth in place, taking another deep breath. She opens her eyes and finds Levi staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Making brunch," he answers casually before turning around and chopping vegetables. "What is wrong with you guys?" he asks with his back still faced towards her. "It's eleven in the morning and no one's awake." Hanji looks over at the analog clock on the kitchen wall before giving him a sheepish smile.

"They _are_ old people," Hanji says trying to reason with him. "They have irregular sleeping patterns. Plus, they're bodies don't have a properly working clock. It's not like they sleep this late on purpose."

Levi rolls his eyes at her. "What about you, shithead?" he asks monotonously. 

"I was awake until three in the morning," she retorts. "I have this new assignment that Professor Shadis assigned, and he says that it'll push my GPA up again if I do well on it." She flashes him another one of her shit eating grins, knowing that he'll kill her if he finds out what her new project is. She crosses her fingers behind her back, hoping he won't ask her that one damn question.

"What's your project about?" he says reverting his attention to what Hanji thinks is a farmer's omelet. The sight is good enough to make her start drooling. She hasn't exactly had what most people would call a decent meal sometime in the past year, ever since she started attending Harvard. Between the shit served at the campus cafeteria and the high price of food at grocery markets, she's eaten nothing but milk and cereal or ramen cup noodles over her student career at Harvard.

"People," she blurts out loud. Levi turns around and gives her an undecipherable expression. "I'm researching human behavior and the way people react to obscene situations," she lies. "It's basically research on how people react to crazy situations."

"I know," he says leaning against the countertop. "I may be a dropout, but that doesn't mean I don't know what the word obscene means." He turns back around before taking the farmer's omelet off the stove and placing it on a plate. "Here," he says handing it over to her.

"Thanks," she says before grabbing a fork and stuffing a piece of omelet in her mouth. "Mmmm," she moans. The taste of the egg is smooth and accompanied by a mix of both cheese and vegetables. "I haven't had something this good since three weeks ago, when I went out to that All American Diner. Let me just say that this tastes way better than that." Levi smiles in appreciation to her compliment. "I've been wondering, have you ever given culinary school a thought?"

Levi nods at her question. "Yeah, I've wanted to attend culinary school since I dropped out. I guess I thought I wasn't doing much with my life, and seeing the guy with the pizza shop next to _The Legion_ really perked my interest. I got lessons from him too, and not just pizza, but other Italian stuff too since the pizza guy was Italian. MY dreams got crushed though after finding out that culinary school just wouldn't happen."

"Why not?" Hanji asks with curious perking in her mind. Levi seems like the man who does what he wants, why would he be holding back on something like culinary school?

"Don't have the money," he replies casually before taking another forkful of omelet. "I've tried taking a semester on and a semester off, but I ran out of money halfway through. I just gave up after that and accepted my fate as a barista. Besides, not every guy's a Bobby Flay."

"You're right," Hanji says with a frown. "But didn't you try out for a scholarship though?" Levi shakes his head in dispair.

"Wasn't eligible," he answers. "I dropped out of high school, remember? None of the scholarship organizations would even consider me. Fucking low lives." 

"Yeah," Hanji says taking a final forkful of omelet and stuffing it into her mouth. "This world doesn't run without money." She puts her plate and fork down into the kitchen sink before getting a drink of water. Through all the time in the world, that's when an idea hits her.

"I've got the _perfect_ idea!!!" she exclaims leaving the glass of water on the counter top, unforgotten. "I have all this money sitting in my bank account from when I was saving up for college. I got a free ride to Harvard instead, so I didn't know what to do with it. Why don't you use it. It's not like I'm going to need it anyway."

Levi waves away the offer. "I'm not going to do that," he says before taking her untouched glass of water and drinking out of it. "It's your money. Besides, I'm not going to take it for free and even if I would be paying you back, I wouldn't have the money for it."

"Who says I need money?" Hanji says teasingly. Levi raises an eyebrow, unsure as to where exactly their conversation is heading. Hanji laughs at his expression. "What I mean't was this," she continues. "You use my money to attend culinary school, and then you can teach me whatever you learn. That way, you can accomplish your dream and I can learn the skills necessary to not die from malnutrition."

"I don't know," Levi says setting his plate down on the sink and grabbing a sponge. "It doesn't feel right. Besides, even _if_ I we do that. It's not enough for me to just teach you how to cook. I should give you something extra."

"You're right," Hanji says thinking for a while. He turns his attention back to the plates and forks, washing them while Hanji goes through her thought process. "Hey!!!" Hanji thunders causing him to jerk back and almost drop the plate on the floor. "I got it!!!"

"Would you stop that?" he asks with a scowl.

"Nope," Hanji says ruffling around his silky raven hair. "Anyways, I was thinking. How about you teach me some French? I can come over every day for about an hour. You can teach me to cook after that."

"Fine," Levi huffs. "But you're coming over every day. And you're the one who keeps track of what you learn. We can start the day after we get back." Suddenly, a very disturbing thought creeps into his mind. "What about your grandparents?"

"What about them?" Hanji asks with a shrug.

"No," he rephrases. "What are they going to say once they find out that you're giving me all the college money you saved up?" Hanji chuckles at his concern.

"Honestly," Hanji continues, "they're not going to care. They were just happy when they found out they didn't need to worry about student loans or anything. A free ride to college is a huge deal for family. Cuts back on a lot of stress."

Levi carries the other two plates on the counter and places them on a large serving tray. "Do you want to wake your grandparents up now? The food's almost cold." 

"Great," she says smacking her hands together. "I'll go wake up Pépère and tell him to come downstairs." She grabs one of the plates off the serving tray in Levi's hand. "Grand-maman can just eat in her room since she's not suppose to move around much." 

The last peaceful thing he sees that morning is Hanji running off with the plate of farmer's omelet in her hands. 

* * *

The evening comes by with a blur. By the time he's done with half of _The Girl on the Train,_ Hanji finds him and drags him over to the kitchen.

"Get off me," he says brushing Hanji's hand off his sleeve. "What do you want now?"

The brunette smacks her hand on her forehead. "Come on Levi," she scolds. "How could you be so forgetful? We need to make the food for the candlelit dinner, remember?"

Levi groans. "Didn't grand-maman say that she and Pixis don't need a romantic dinner?" Hanji crosses her arms and scowls at him.

"Ever heard of humbleness?" Hanji asks with a pout. "That's exactly what they were doing. Besides, old people are always cranky if they have to do things themselves, which is why we're going to set the dinner and food up for them. All they have to focus on is the romance."

"Ew," Levi grumbles. "Fine, but you're going to do exactly what I tell you to do, got it?" Hanji nods with affirmation. "All right, now get me these ingredients. A loaf of pita bread, olive oil, sumac, salt, pepper, romaine lettuce, some cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, radishes, and parsley leaves." Hanji rummages through the fridge and the pantry, gathering together all the ingredients. 

"This pita bread's a bit old," Hanji says pulling a loaf out from a small cupboard. "Will it do?" Levi takes the loaf out of her hands and looks for an expiration date. 

"It's not fresh," he murmurs. "But it's not expired either, so it'll do." The raven haired man pulls a baking tray out from one of the kitchen drawers before cutting the pita loaf up. "Preheat the oven to 180 degrees," he says while still cutting up the bread. Hanji does as he says, him throwing the bread inside. "Now we wait for the bread to brown."

"Take out a bowl," he orders. She frantically searches through the cabinets, trying her best to fulfill his demand. She sets it on the countertop, waiting for his next instruction. "Chop the lettuce up and throw it into the bowl. Chop up the cucumbers, tomatoes, and green onions with the sliced up radishes and parsley." 

"Good," he says noticing that her julienne knife strokes are better. "Now take the liquid ingredients and whisk it together in a small bowl. That's your lime vinaigrette." He watches her slowly whisk the ingredients together before placing them inside a salad dressing holder. "Okay," he continues, "now for the pita. I'll take care of this part since it involves frying items." His eyes fall on her hand, where the burn scar is still evident.

He reverts his attention to the cooking and pulls the pita bread pieces out of the oven. He then heats up a small pan and fills it with oil. The pita bread is added in and tossed until lightly brown. He uses a colander to take the bread out of the oil, then adding salt, pepper, and some sumac. "There," he says tossing the pita chips into a bowl lined with paper towels. "We've made out Fattoush salad. You're grandparents can add the pita chips and the vinaigrette in later since it might turn soggy if added in now."

Hanji nods. "What do we do next?"

"Next we make the Baba Ganoush," he says. "We need an eggplant, tahini, garlic cloves, a lemon, cumin, salt, olive oil, parsley, and olives, preferably kalamata." Hanji once again scrambles through the fridge and through the pantry, trying her best to find all the ingredients he lists. 

"Got em!" she exclaims. "Now what?" 

"Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit," he instructs. "Now prepare a medium hot fire. It's fine that you don't have a charcoal grill. We can just use the stove." He patiently waits for her to catch up with his instruction. "Now take the eggplant and prick it with a fork in several places. Now cook it and turn it frequently until the skin turns black and starts to feel soft." He watches and monitors her for a full fifteen minutes, not taking his eyes off her. She flashes him a smile now and then, her anime eyes beaming, causing his heart to perform flips.

"Remove it from the oven," he orders. "Now slowly peel off the skin and place the remainder of the eggplant in a bowl. Using a fork, smash the eggplant into a paste." She does as he says, working quickly to match the pace of his instruction. "Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice from the lemon, and cumin. Mix it up well. Add some salt and transfer it into a serving bowl. Drizzle some olive oil on top and serve the olives on the side."

Hanji finishes the dish and steps away. "Phew," she says looking over at him. "Do you have this stuff memorized or something?"

He rolls his eyes. "No," he answers. "I cook and eat a lot of Mediterranean food, that's all. Are you still up for those falafels?" Hanji nods and gives him a shit eating grin. "All right," he says. "I need dried chickpeas, or maybe some garbanzo beans, an onion, some parsley, garlic, flour, salt, cumin, coriander, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cardamom, and vegetable oil. For the utensils, we'll need a food processor and a skillet." Levi helps Hanji while rummaging through the spice cabinet, seeing that she's having trouble gathering all the required ingredients.

"Where do you guys get all this stuff from?" he asks still helping out the brunette. "You guys have every single fucking ingredient I asked you to get."

Hanji chuckles. "One of the many perks of being rich. Anyways, my pépère was always a foodie and my grand-maman loved cooking for him. When I moved in here, we would have Mediterranean food every Friday night. It's why we have all these ingredients." 

"Damn it," Levi mutters. "The chickpeas are suppose to be soaked in water overnight. Guess we can't make any falafels."

"What?" Hanji asks irritatedly. "You've got to be kidding me! Isn't there some kind of short cut or something?"

Levi shakes his head. "Sorry," he says. "How about we make a Tabbouleh instead? With a side of grilled meat to balance it off."

"Great," Hanji says clapping her hands together. "What do we need?"

"Some bhulgur wheat," he lists, "lemon juice, olive oil, salt, scallions, mint, parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes, and black pepper. Get me a stockpot or a saucepan." Hanji rummages through the cabinets and tosses a stockpot, which lands on the ground in front of him.

"Oops," she says before flashing a sheepish grin. 

"Just go," he says with a sigh. "I'll finish this dish off by myself. Set up the table in a romantic way."

"How do you make a table look romantic?" she asks with sheer confusion written on her face.

"How would I know?" Levi asks while struggling to set the stockpot on the stove. For a short man like him, it sure was heavy. "Just cover it with a red table cloth and light a bunch candles on it."

"All right," Hanji says throwing her hands up in defeat. "But if this mansion burns down in the process, it's all your fault." Levi grunts and let's Hanji leave, keeping his fingers crossed that she doesn't mess up and do something disastrous.

After the water's done boiling, he pours it into a large bowl with the bulghur wheat already inside it. He then adds olive oil, lemon juice, and some salt. _That can cool while I go get ready,_ he thinks while washing his hands at the sink. He meets Hanji at the dining table, the brunette trying her best to light candles. "You done?" he asks inpatiently leaning against the wall.

"Hold on," she murmurs with focus. "Just have this one last candle to light." She lights the candle and lets out a sigh. "Phew," she says wiping away a drop of sweat that had settled on her brow. "That sure was something."

"Whatever," he says with an eye roll. "Don't we have to go to your cousin Sasha's house or something?"

"Yeah," Hanji states casually. "I'm ready."

Levi analyzes her with a raised eyebrow. She's still in her pajama pants and shirt from earlier that morning. "No you're not," he retorts. "Go put on something decent, something that won't make me feel like I'll have to hide in the bushes and follow you to your cousin's house."

"Honestly Levi," she says waving him off. "You think about other people too much."

He glares at her. "Go. Change. Now."

"Fine," she says before sticking her tongue out at him. She heads up the stairs with Levi following her. "I'm going to go get grand-maman and pépère while I'm at it."

She winks at him before running down the corridor and into the room diagonal to his. Levi sighs, keeping his fingers crossed that their evening while babysitting Hanji's cousin will be as far from hectic as possible.

Boy does he turn out wrong.

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

Levi sighs as he gets out of the car with Hanji. 

"That was awful," he comments rubbing his back. "Why didn't you tell me that the drive to your cousin's house is fucking forty five minutes?"

"Because I knew you would start whining," she says with an eye roll. "Besides, you're going to love Sasha. She's a real foodie and will eat anything you put in front of her, although her favorite is a baked potato stuffed with cheddar. Let me rephrase that, Sasha loves eating anything that involves potatoes."

Levi's usual expression twists into a scowl as he imagines Sasha Brause, a fat twelve year old kid who can't go an hour without chowing something down. "Let me guess," he says monotonously, "I'm going to have to cook for her too."

Hanji nods with enthusiasm, her anime eyes beaming. "Isn't that great?!" Hanji asks jumping up and down on the porch. 

"Not really," he says cringing at Hanji's over enthusiastic nature. "It's not like any of this is gonna turn me into some world class chef."

"Au contraire," Hanji argues. "You might not be a world class chef right now, but I can guarantee that it's going to happen in the future. Besides, when you _do_ turn into Bobby Flay and start filming a cooking show, don't forget to send me an autograph."

Her word make him chuckle, and Hanji can't help but stare at him in awe. "You know Levi," she says watching the streetlights from a nearby road hit his face. They give him an almost angelic appearance. "You look really pretty when you smile."

Levi raises an eyebrow. "Pretty?" he asks. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yep," Hanji says with a shit eating grin. "You are pretty feminine, so I thought the word  'pretty' would suit you the best." He smacks her in the arm before she proceeds to ringing the doorbell, sneaking a look at Levi every now and then.

The door is opened a few moments later by a woman gracing brown hair and a medium skin complexion. She's tall, about two or three inches taller than Hanji. "Zoe!!!" the woman squeals before locking Hanji in a suffocating hug. "It's been a whole damn year since I've last seen you. How's life in Harvard?"

"It's okay," Hanji says gasping out heaving breaths. "The curriculum is pretty hard, and the assignments too. Although, Professor Shadis is pretty nice. He's completely unlike how you described him."

"Wow," the taller woman states with a surprised look on her face. "If Keith Shadis has changed, then Harvard must be nothing like how I last remembered it." She lets out a boisterous cackle to which both Levi and Hanji cringe. The raven haired man looks over at the shorter brunette, and she gives him a sheepish grin. 

The taller brunette's gaze falls on Levi, and she gives a devilish smirk. "Wow Zoe," she says wiggling her eyebrows up and down. "Quite the man you've got there."

Hanji rolls her eyes at her comment. "He's just a friend," she says removing her shoes and walking inside the house. Levi does the same and follows, not wanting to be left alone with the strange woman hovering around him. 

"Well Hanji's friend," the woman says holding her hand out for Levi to shake. "I'm Aunt Tilley. What's your name?" Levi stares at the woman's hand, thinking whether he should shake it or not. Strangely, the situation reminds him of when he first met Hanji. He smiles remembering how she was banging on his door at three in the morning for a mere introduction.

"Levi," he says before reluctantly shaking her hand. He flinches at the thought of Aunt Tilley's hands and where they've been before touching his. He quickly withdraws and moves closer to his brown haired friend. 

"So where's Sasha?" Hanji asks switching the topic around. 

"In the kitchen," Aunt Tilley says pointing towards a small corridor. "She's eating the brownies I made. Thanks again for agreeing to watch Sasha. Your uncle and I are going out on a date to the Imperial Garden, they have the best food in town."

"No problem," Hanji says with a smile. "It's nice seeing you guys. Maybe we can walk some more later."

"Yeah," Aunt Tilley says hastily. "Right now, I need to focus on getting ready. Anyways, I went to the store and bought this cute lacy black cocktail dress. Oh, it'll be like old times, your uncle and I!" Hanji forces a smile onto her lips, knowing that seeing her aunt in a short cocktail dress will be…somewhat disturbing. She doesn't want to destroy the woman's cheery mood, so she decides not to say anything.

"Well I'll go get ready," she says running up the stairs. "He'll be here any moment." Hanji looks over at Levi, earning nothing less than a death glare.

"Tell me when your aunt's gone," he says walking through the corridor that eventually leads to the living room. "The last thing I want to see is an old woman wearing a mini skirt or something like that."

Hanji grabs his hand and turns him around. "Do you seriously think I want to do this?" she asks in a whisper. "I don't want to see Aunt Tilley wear anything like that either. I'm only doing this so it doesn't ruin her mood." She turns to her right and sees Sasha sitting on a bar stool, stuffing her mouth with a bunch of brownies that are resting on a granite countertop.

"Hey cuz!" Sasha says with the brownies still stuffed inside her mouth. Levi turns and looks at the preteen, his eye twitching as it lands on the mess on the countertop. Sasha's eyes veer over to Levi before widening. "Is that your boyfriend?" she asks earning a groan from both Levi and Hanji.

"No," Hanji says growing tired of all the boyfriend related questions. "He's Levi and he's just a friend." She quickly decides to flip around the conversation. "So how's school?"

Sasha shrugs. "Fine," she says casually. "Middle school's a bust, it's not as exciting as TV shows portray it. Usually the girl gets bullied and a super hot guy notices her and falls in love with her. Why doesn't my life have that kind of drama?"

Hanji gulps after hearing Sasha speak. She was bullied in middle school, and she can say from experience that she had all the guys in her classes avoid her. There was no love, and no attention. The only part that's true is the one that involves bullying. "Bullying is serious," Hanji says sitting down on the bar stool next to Sasha's. "Don't buy into all that bullshit. People who went through bullying know how horrible it is, and that no guy is just going to magically come around and fall in love with you."

Levi watches Hanji as she talks to Sasha, remembering their conversation from the road trip. Hanji had mentioned that she was bullied in middle school, and that she managed to suppress it in high school until that new jerk came around. He sighs before cutting into their conversation. "It's seven thirty," he continues. "I'm making dinner." He looks over at Hanji and shakes his head, warning her not to continue her conversation about bullying, but he only earns an eye roll in return. "Hanji, get your lazy ass over here and help me."

"Ooh," Sasha chides. "Mr. Levi said a bad word!" She points her finger at him accusingly, making Hanji laugh. A part of the ravenette is relieved that he's managed to push away the serious and depressing aura from earlier. 

"That's because Mr. Levi is a bad boy," she says getting up from the stool and walking into the kitchen. She earns another glare from him, but wisely chooses to ignore it. "So, what are we making?"

Levi opens the fridge and rummages through it, finding a small variety of fresh ingredients and instead a larger variety of processed ones. He sighs before pulling out a small plastic bag with tomatoes and closing the fridge door. "Judging by the limited ingredients in there," he says with a frown, "we're making pasta." 

He opens one of the cabinet doors, keeping his fingers crossed that there's a box of uncooked pasta somewhere. He finally comes agross a box of raw angel hair. "There's not much," Levi says looking over at Hanji. The angel hair's only enough to suffice for one person. Sasha.

"We can order some pizza later," Hanji whispers. "Just give her the pasta. She needs to go to sleep in another two or three hours anyway." 

"Fine," he says before taking out a pair of scissors. "Go get me a medium sized pot and some olive oil." Hanji rummages through the cabinets and cupboards, unable to find any olive oil.

"Well," Hanji says handing what she found over to him. "I found this small sized pot and some vegetable oil." Levi cringes at the ingredients in his hand. "It'll have to do," she says with a shrug. "We don't really have an option."

Levi sighs in defeat before turning the stove on and placing the pot on it. He drizzles in some vegetable oil, staring it the pot in disgust. "Chop up some tomatoes," he instructs her. "Make sure the pieces are small. It'll help them cook faster." Hanji does as he says, Levi keeping an eye on her. _Her knife skills have grown better,_ he thinks. Maybe his cooking lessons are paying off.

"I'm back!" Aunt Tilley says popping up from the corridor. Unfortunately, her surprising pop up is what causes Hanji to nick her finger with the knife. 

"Shit!" she yells before running over to the sink and running her hand through cold water. "Wow, two whole accidents with me in the kitchen. I guess I'm bad luck." Levi rolls his eyes and runs over to her, using some dish soap to help disinfect the wound. "It's just a small cut," she says pulling her hand away from him.

"I'm so sorry," Aunt Tilley says with her hands covering her mouth. "I just wanted to say bye before I left."

"It's fine," Hanji says waving it off. "Do you by any chance have a bandaid around here?" The woman nods before rummaging through a small plastic box.

"Here," she says handing one over to Levi. He takes the bandaids before hastily applying it on Hanji's wound.

"Go sit down," Levi says pointing next to Sasha. Hanji obeys and waves goodbye to her aunt, who's dressed up in an uncomfortably tight and disturbingly short lace dress. On the other hand, Levi stares at the tomatoes on the chopping board, examining the drops of blood here and there. He wipes the board clean and washes it before taking out another few tomatoes and chopping them up. He throws them in the pot and watches them cook, stirring with a spoon every now and then.

"Wow Levi," Hanji says sniffing the air. "You barely have what you need to work with, and the kitchen still smells like heaven. You must be god! All hail Levi Ackerman, the god of food and all things heavenly!"

"Shut up," he says adding a bit of salt and pepper to the sauce. The tomatoes have almost completely disintegrated, all that's left is boiling the angel hairs and straining out the solid tomato parts. He once again shuffles through the cabinets before pulling out another small stockpot and filling it with water, dropping the angel hairs in once they've come to a boil.

Once he's done with both the angel hairs and straining out the extra tomato parts, he pulls out a bowl and pours in all of the angel hairs, topping it off with the minimal amount of tomato sauce he'd made. He places the bowl in front of Sasha along with a plastic kiddy fork. "Here," he says blandly. 

He looks over at Hanji, wrk and a huge grin plastered across her face. "What are you staring at?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing," she chimes with a mischievous tone. She turns over at Sasha and watches as her cousin quickly gobbles down the pasta in front of her. "What do you think?" she asks the preteen.

"It's magical!" Sasha says with pasta sauce escaping the corner of her lips. "Mr. Levi really is the god of good and all things heavenly!"

"No I'm not," he says with an eye roll. "I just make what people call real food. All you and your cousin eat are shitty processed foods."

"Ooh!!!" Sasha says once again. "Mr. Levi said another bad word!"

Levi sighs with exhaustion before taking away the empty bowl. 

* * *

"All right Sasha," Hanji says looking over at the preteen. She's been playing Cooking Mama 3 for the past two hours. "It's time to go to sleep," she says impatiently waiting for the girl to turn the game off. "Come on Sasha."

"Fine," the young brunette says with a huff.

Hanji walks towards Levi. "Order the pizza," she whispers before taking off with Sasha. Levi takes his phone out and looks through the menu at Domino's Pizza. Everything on the list seemed so plain. In the end, he decides to go with a large thin crust pizza topped with chicken, olives, jalapeños, onions, bell peppers, and sun dried tomatoes. He places the order and sits down on the couch, flipping through an old Food Network magazine.

"Danish apple pie," he murmurs reading the title of the recipe on page sixty three. He sneaks his phone out and takes a few pictures, hoping to make the dishes and deserts sometime later. He doesn't know how long he's flipping though the magazine until Hanji comes downstairs looking as miserable as hell.

"She takes forever to fall asleep," Hanji says plopping down next to him. "I had to tell her stories that involved food. After that, she started salivating and asking me a bunch of questions. She didn't fall asleep until after I told her about all the dishes you made."

Levi smirks. "You know," Hanji continues. "I wouldn't be surprised if she decided to come with us to Cambridge. Maybe she can move in with me and then visit you every single day."

The raven haired man perks up at that. "No!" he exclaims sternly. Hanji starts laughing boisterously at his reaction.

"Relax," she says punching him in the arm. "I'm just kidding. By the way, did you order the pizza? I don't know about you, but I'm starving." 

Levi nods. "Yeah," he answer. "I ordered it a while ago. It should be here in a while."

"You know what we need?" Hanji asks slapping her hand on his thigh. "Netflix and pizza!" She grabs the remote off the coffee table and turns on the TV. "Have you ever watched Green Arrow?" she asks with a raised eyebrow. 

"No," he replies. "I've heard of it, but I've never watched it. Is it good?"

"Good?" Hanji scoffs. "Please, it's god damn epic! I'm kind of a DC nerd, so don't blame me. I've read all the comics and all the TV shows based on DC comics. It was practically my whole freaking life."

The ravenette nods just as the doorbell rings. "That should be the pizza guy," he says rising from the couch. "I'll go get it." Hanji ignored him and continues surfing through Netflix, trying her best to find Green Arrow. Levi comes back with a huge box of pizza in his hand, carefully setting it down on the coffee table. 

"Isn't your aunt going to yell at us if we sit here and eat?" he asks.

"Please," Hanji scoffs. "Have you met Sasha? She can eat practically anywhere in the house and my aunt won't care. Now shut up and sit down, it's starting." Hanji stares at the TV in front of her, eagerly watching the intro scene of Green Arrow. She grabs a slice of pizza and shoves it into her mouth. Everything was going fine, until everything suddenly stopped and went dark.

"No!!!!" Hanji wails. "Now of all the fucking times in the fucking world?! Come on!!!"

"What?" Levi asks shaken by her reaction. "What happened?"

"The fucking power went out," Hanji whines. "I should've known. This part of Chicago has something against the Arrow. Dumb power outages!!!" She sits back down and pouts before sighing. "I'll go find some candles or flashlights," she grumbles before getting up.

Levi would interject on letting Hanji wander around alone, but it's clearly true that she knows the house better than he does, so he just sits on the couch in silence. A while later, Hanji comes back with a few candles in a ziplock bag and a cigarette lighter. "This is all I could manage to find," she says setting the candles down and lighting them.

She once again plops down next to him and sighs, picking up another pizza piece. Levi on the other hand, continues chewing on his first one, looking over at Hanji every now and then. The light illuminates her face, making her features appear warmer than usual. "What?" she asks noticing his gaze.

"Nothing," he says turning away. Is it so wrong to admire his best friend. He's snapped out of his thoughts as he hears Hanji's chuckle ring in his ears. "What?" he asks with confusion.

"I was just thinking," she pauses before turning away. "Never mind." 

"No," he says forcing her to look at him. "What is it?"

Hanji sighs, realizing he's not going to give up. "I was just thinking how wierd it is that my parents are at home having a candlelit dinner and so are we. It's just so coincidental, don't you think?"

Levi merely nods at her statement. "I don't think I've ever had a candlelit dinner before," he says. "I didn't appreciate any of my girlfriends enough to give them one. They weren't worth it."

"Why not?" Hanji asks with sudden curiosity. 

"They weren't special," he says with a shrug. "I've never met a girl in my life who's made me feel like they wanted me for who I am, not for how good I am in bed. I told you," he says grabbing her hand. "I was a thug for a big part of my life, and I ran into a lot of girls during that time. I found this one girl recently who I think I have a shot with."

"Who?" Hanji asks with enthusiasm.

"Petra Ral," he says with a smile. Hanji's eyes widen at the name and she clenches her teeth. "We went on a date the Thursday of the week I met you. She was so soft, endearing, and she understood me."

Hanji scoffs in her head. As if Petra Ral could be endearing or understanding. She was one of the popular girls who made her life miserable in Chicago Middle School, and now she's in Cambridge dating her best friend? Bullshit!

"I-I'm so happy for you," she stutters trying to push away her hatred for Petra. Who knows, maybe she had changed? All that mattered right now, was the happiness of her best friend. "I've never had a candlelit dinner either," she says driving the topic away from the nefarious strawberry blonde. "I had my first tonight, and I'm glad it was with you."

She gives him a smile and he reciprocates. It's at that moment Hanji realizes something that she would never admit out loud.

She likes Levi Ackerman.

And her feelings for him are unrequited. 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji has trouble dealing with her feelings. 
> 
> Meanwhile, Levi's in a grumpier mood than usual and forces Hanji to take a bath after growing tired of her body odor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update. I had a slight case of writer's block. Anyways, just a note to tell you guys that I will most likely not update on weekends unless I have the time to. Most of my updates are done from Mon-Fri.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

The next morning does not go well for Nanaba.

"Hello Zoe?" she asks picking the phone up. She read the caller ID ahead of time, so she knew it was her brown haired friend. Besides, Hanji only calls this early if something's getting in the way of her sleep, which it must be because she usually sleeps like the dead. "Dude, it's legit five in the morning, why are you calling? Did something happen?"

"Nana!" Hanji screams from the other end of the line. "I've called you three times already, sent another three voicemails, and sent at least six messages in the past four hours. Why weren't you responding?"

Nanaba sighs before rolling her eyes. "Some of us were actually sleeping," she says sarcastically. "God," she sits up in her bed and rubs her temples. "You see, this is exactly why Levi ran into your apartment all those weeks ago. You've got to respect the natural body clock."

"Levi's an insomniac," she blurts out without thinking. Hanji purses her lips together tightly, hoping that Nanaba doesn't notice her rather…strange behavior. She pauses a while afterward. It's never occurred to her that she's been studying him this closely. When all the pieces fit together, it does make sense that he's an insomniac. It sure explains how he was able to finish a huge book like _The Girl on the Train_ in two days flat.

"How on earth do you know that?" Nanaba asks with both curiosity and horror. She knows that her friend's very observant, but the fact that she memorized some guy's sleeping patterns were far from normal. "Zoe, you're not planning on murdering him, are you?"

Hanji laughs boisterously, the laugh dying away and fading into a rather uncomfortable one. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about him. We're in Chicago with my family and—"

"Woah, woah, woah," Nanaba says cutting her off. "You're in Chicago? And Levi's with you? Is something wrong with your family?"

"Yeah," Hanji says with a tinge of sadness. "It turns out that Grand-maman isn't going to be around much longer. She's had a coronary disease for the past six years, and apparently, none of my grandparents planned on telling me."

"So then why is Levi with you?" Nanaba asks trying to piece everything together. None of it made sense. Hanji's never taken anyone over to her house unless they were close. So far, she's only known Levi for about four weeks to a month. What made her take a short clean freak instead of her best friend?

"He speaks French," she continues. "But that's not important! I wanted to talk to you about him, and I really don't care if I'm being insensitive to your sleeping patterns because I _really_ need your help and advice."

Nanaba rolls her eyes from the other end of the line. It's irritating that she can practically _see_ Hanji pouting, despite her being in another state miles and miles away. "Fine," she says giving up on her sleep. "What do you want to talk about?"

Hanji takes a deep breath before blurting everything out. "I think I really, really, really, really, really like him!" 

What she said took a huge toll on Nanaba. "You _like_ Levi?" she asks throwing the sheets off her own body and jumping out of bed. "As in you _like_ like him, not just _I want to be your friend_ like?" Hanji hums in approval from the other end of the line. "Does he know?"

"N-no," Hanji stutters. "I can't," she continues. "He seems like the first normal friend I've had in years." Hanji takes a pillow from behind her and hugs it close to her chest. "I don't want to loose him and get rid of everything we've had."

"How dare you!" Nanaba says teasingly. "Claiming that some guy you've only known for a month is more normal than your old bestie, that's just preposterous!" Hanji chuckles at her friend's remark.

"You're the farthest thing from normal," Hanji says directly. "No offense! I mean, I think it's fair to say that no Nanaba's a normal Nanaba." They both laugh flamboyantly. "Wow," Hanji continues. "If I laugh any louder, I might wake some folks up."

"You think?" Nanaba says watching her roommate as she turns around and glares at her. "I'm receiving threatening looks from my roommate here in the dorms. I'm afraid she'll kill me in my sleep." Nanabs sighs and looks over at the time. "I have a test in criminology class tomorrow. Thanks for waking me up, now I can actually study!"

"No problem," Hanji says with her voice dying away.

"Hey," Nanaba says with worry. "Is something else bothering you too? You know you can tell me right?"

"Yeah I know," Hanji says with a deep sigh. "The fact that Levi's dating, it's really bothering me right now."

"Ooooh," Nanba teases. "Hanji's jealous, huh?"

"I wish," Hanji retorts. "It's more who he's dating that's bothering me. His girlfriend's Petra Ral, the strawberry blonde from middle school. She's in Cambridge."

"What?!" Nanaba yells causing her roommate to once again roll around and cast her a glare. "Mind your own business Freida," Nanaba says with a scowl causing the woman to once again roll around on her bed. "So what're you going to do about it? She did sone pretty mean things to you back then, are you going to tell him?"

"Why should I?" Hanji says with a shrug. "Maybe Petra's changed. Maybe she went from mean girl bitch to the sweet and nice girl. Besides, it's not like Levi likes me. He really likes her though. He's practically convinced that she's the love of his life!"

"Yikes," Nanaba says with a flinch. "That sucks. I never thought Petra would be able to convince someone to fall in love with her."

"Yeah," Hanji agrees. "I've gotta go now. But can I get one more piece of advice?" Hanji doesn't even wait for Nanaba's reply. "How do I get myself to stop liking him? I don't want my feelings for him to go into something bigger in the long run."

"You mean like love?" Nanaba asks. "If you fall in love with him, then great! But let me just say that your feelings aren't going to go away that easily, even when you convince yourself it's not going to happen."

"But what if I fall in love and it's unrequited?" 

"I don't know," Nanaba says with exhaustion. "I've never experienced unrequited love. I've faced rejection though, and wasted three whole days listening to a bunch of Ed Sheeran and Charlie Puth. Even if you do fall in love and it's unrequited, only you would know how to deal with it. Now I've got to go study, okay?"

"Okay," Hanji says with a sniffle. "And by the way, do you have Mike's number. I was wondering if he's in town."

"Yeah," she answers. "He texted me yesterday and said that Brown University was giving them a week off. I haven't seen him in ages, I wonder what he looks like now."

"Really?" Hanji asks with a raised eyebrow. "You haven't even FaceTimed him?"

"Nope," Nanaba replies. "I really want to though, but my mom cut back on my phone allowance. Maybe you guys can Skype me?"

"Sure," Hanji says. "Thanks, I really needed someone to talk to about all of this. Thanks for always being there for me."

"No problem," Nanaba answers with a smile. "Now I'm going to go study."

"And I'm going to try and at least get an hour of sleep," Hanji retorts with a chuckle. "Good night abnormal bestie."

"Goodnight," Nanaba says before hanging up.

Hanji lays back down in her bed and stares up at her ceiling, which are covered with glow in the dark stars. _Maybe I should just keep up my platonic act with him,_ she says to herself. _Maybe then I'll be able to get rid of whatever I'm feeling for him._ She closes her eyes before wrapping her body up tightly in her purple comforter, sleep finally dominating over her.

* * *

Hanji wakes up the next morning with the sweet aroma of pancakes hitting her.

"Shit!" she yells looking at the time. It's half passed twelve and here she is, still lying in bed. She flips the covers off her body and darts out the door, only to come face to face with a very moody Levi Ackerman.

"It's about time you woke up," he says glaring straight into her. He analyzes her, looking at her from top to bottom. Her hair is offensively messy—probably in the worst stare he's ever seen—and her glasses are sitting askew on the bridge of her nose. She has no reason to feel ashamed, yet she still feels a blush creep on.

"H-hey Levi," she says with a stutter. "I see you've made pancakes," she blurts out. "Well I can't actually say that I saw that, it's more like I smelled it. The aroma's really, really, really, really, really good and I can't wait to try it. Are grand-maman and pépère awake, because I should really go check on—"

"Shut up," he says cutting her off from her rant. Hanji closes her eyes and inhales deeply before letting out a sigh. After opening her eyes, she sees Levi handing a book over to her. "I finished it," he says. "It was really good. Thanks by the way." He turns around to leave when Hanji stops him.

"Wait!" Hanji exclaims. Levi turns around and stares at her with a raised eyebrow. "Did you ever read the book _The Bones of You?"_  She smiles after seeing his head shake. "It's really good and I'm pretty sure we have it in our library. I finished the book in less than two days after staying up all night. By the way Levi, why didn't you tell me you have insomnia?"

The raven haired man stares at her for a second. "How the hell do you know about that?" he asks. No one's managed to find out until now, not even Petra, who he slept with a few weeks ago. 

Hanji scoffs at his question. "I'm not dumb," she retorts. "The only reason people can't tell is because they have an IQ of ten. You finished that book in two days flat, which one can do if they stay up all night. Admit it shorty, you're an insomniac."

"Yeah," he argues. "I am, so what? It's not like you could do anything about it." Hanji gulps, noticing that Levi's in a grumpier mood than usual. 

"Well according to some scientific studies," Hanji continues earning an eye roll from Levi. "A glass of milk before bed every night helps simulate a good night's sleep. I use to do it when I was a kid, considering how I would be up every night studying for some crap test or the other. Besides, the milk could also help with your little height problem. You kill two birds with one stone."

Levi scowls at her height joke, thinking of a good comeback until all of a sudden, an unpleasant smell hits his nose. He moves closer to Hanji and sniffs the air around her, only to cringe. "You smell like shit," he says covering his nose. "How long has it been since you've last had a shower?"

Hanji ponders for a moment. "We got here three days ago, and I showered on Wednesday. So yeah, it's been about a week since I've last taken a shower." Without another thought, Levi drags her by the sleeve over to the nearest bathroom. 

"Go take a shower," he says turning the light on and pointing towards the jacuzzi. 

"Jokes on you," Hanji says before sticking her tongue out. "That's a Jacuzzi. You can't shower in it."

Levi rolls his eyes. "I don't give a damn," he says pushing her inside the bathroom. "As long as you use soap and water to get yourself clean, I don't care what you do."

"What's wrong with you?" Hanji asks with a frown. "You're so fucking grumpy today!" She watches him as he turns the water on and fills up the jacuzzi. "Did something happen that I should know about? You can trust me with anything, you know?" She's stunned when she sees Levi close the door behind him. "Levi?" she asks looking straight at him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Shut up and strip," he says pointing towards the jacuzzi. 

"What?!" she exclaims turning a shade of crimson. "What the hell?!"

"I said shut up and strip," he says leaning against the door. Hanji shakes her head and backs away from him. Levi walks towards her as she continues backing away. Unfortunately, the back of her knees hit the edge of the jacuzzi and she tumbles. She grabs something to hold onto, that something being Levi's shirt, and takes him down with her.

She comes out of the water, drenched and gasping for air. "Way to go Shitty Glasses," she hears him say. "You got me wet too." He looks over at her before moving his black bangs away from his eyes. "Tell me Hanji, do you have something against being clean?"

Hanji stares at him before punching him in the chest, an action he doesn't react too. Her face once again turns crimson as she yells, "Do you have an issue against me trying to preserve my modesty?"

He lets out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry about that," he says looking away from her. "I'm just worried about your health. You're not exactly to person who worships their own body." Hanji purses her lips before looking back at him. 

"I'm sorry too," she says looking back down at the water. "I know I'm not the most hygienic person on the face of the planet, but I'm trying. I just got thrown off by the midterm thing from last week when I did nothing but study." Hanji looks back up at him, her face now gracing a smile. "I guess I never got the chance to thank you for that."

Levi let's out what she thinks is a small smile. "No problem Shitty Glasses," he says before taking his shirt off. He wrings it the best he can, his biceps flexing and releasing. As hard as Hanji's trying to looks away, she can't.

The sight is just too sexy. She never thought it would be possible for a small man like him to be that taut. He has a broad chest, a toned back, and chiseled abs that are defined perfectly. She bites her lip at the sight, wondering exactly how many woman have spent time with _him_ looking like _that._

The low rise of his pants aren't helping either. A small and very guilty piece of her stares, her mind lurking and hovering on what exactly might lie under there.

She finally looks away, feeling his gaze fall on her. "S-sorry," she mutters. She watches him as he puts his shirt on again, the wet fabric clinging onto his torso, defining it well. "I'll make sure I'm clean more often," she says watching him leave. What scares her, is that he doesn't respond to her statement. 

He doesn't know, does he?

* * *

 

Hanji comes out of the bathroom a while later, a towel wrapped around her body. She stretches, feeling the cold air of the hallway reach every part of her body. She needs to feel this, she needs it to be cold. She doesn't know what she's trying to cool off from, the heat of the jacuzzi or the heat from seeing Levi shirtless.

"God damn it," Hanji says smacking herself in the forehead. "I've got to stop thinking about him like that." She walks towards her bedroom and shudders, the cold air suddenly growing too cold for her. She rubs her shoulders and the area around her collarbone, trying her best to get rid of any water droplets. 

The brunette sighs as her phone starts ringing. "Hello?" Hanji asks after picking up. 

"Hey Zoe," says a vaguely familiar voice from the other end of the line. 

"Mike!" she exclaims realizing that it's her friend from before college. "Hey, how are you? It's been so long since I've last spoken to you."

"Yeah," Mike agrees. "I was starting to miss your crazy attitude. Well, that and it feels weird waking up every morning and not meeting anyone who smells like they haven't showered in a decade."

Hanji chortles loudly. "Crazy coincidence or what?" she asks. "I just got back from taking a bath in the jacuzzi."

Mike laughs at her remark. "Didn't you go like a month without showering before?" he asks reminiscing over past memories. "I remember sniffing you everyday and saying that you smelled like my mom after she used that horrible anti dandruff shampoo." Hanji laughs, remembering that the shampoo smelt like onions, a smell vaguely similar to her own body odor. 

"To be honest," Hanji continues, "I probably wouldn't have gotten clean if it weren't for that jackass Levi."

"He's a cute jackass though," Mike says teasingly. She can practically _see_ him wiggling his eyebrows. "Nanaba told me he's a clean freak. Tell me, does he smell like bleach or windex?"

"Neither," Hanji retorts. "He smells like a blend of spices, but that's probably because he's in my kitchen twenty four seven. The guy can cook, I think that my immune system's started to get stronger since I last had a cup of ramen noodles!"

"That's nice Zoe," Mike replies. "Nana told me you're in town. Why don't you and your boyfriend stop by for a visit?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Hanji says with exhaustion. "You have no damn idea how many times people have asked me if we're dating. It's honestly starting to get on my nerves." She pauses for a moment and smiles, wondering what her life would be like if she started dating Levi. They would cook together, he would help her pick up French, she would talk about her crazy life and gossip about who's doing what while occasionally throwing in a few scientific facts. "Sure we'll stop by. How about this afternoon, five maybe? We can Skype Nanaba too!"

"You still have my address, right?" 

"Yep," she answers.

"Then five it is, see you then."

"Bye," Hanji says after hanging up. She grins before opening her closet and rummaging through it. Even Hanji has to admit, it's a mess. All she has to do now is make sure Levi doesn't see it. It's not like he wouldn't spasm enough after seeing the mess that is her bedroom.

The brunette hastily pulls out a half decent outfit consisting of a navy blue and black plaid shirt, a pair of low rise denim capris, and a maroon zip up hoodie with the Harvard logo on it. The colors mix together well compared to her other outfit ideas. She runs out of the room and down the stairs, the aroma of pancakes still faintly evident. 

"All right," Hanji says bursting into the kitchen. Levi turns around and raises a brow at her. "I've been food deprived for a flipping bath," she continues, "please just give me my gosh darn pancakes!"

Levi rolls his eyes before handing her a plate. She takes a forkful into her mouth and moans throwing her head back. "Sasha was right about what she said last night. You really are the god of food and all things heavenly."

"I would've been able to teach you how to make those if you'd have woken up earlier," he says watching her stuff her mouth with pancakes. She grins noticing his stare, trying her best to look normal. He continues gazing at her, analyzing every detail. Her hair is damp, and it gracefully frames her ovalular face. He's never seen it down, and he has to say that he likes it and wishes she would leave it down more often. "You know, you don't look so shitty once you actually start taking care of yourself."

Hanji looks up from her plate of pancakes. "Aw," she says with _that_  smile. Honestly, it makes him feel like a puppy at an adoption shelter. "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!" Levi once again rolls his eyes and watches her eat. Her skin is tanned and splattered with a few barely noticeable cinnamon freckles. His eyes then drift over and meet hers as she looks up at him again. They're brown, no chocolate, no copper. He can't decide between the shades, her eyes being too beautiful to be either. Individually, her features were plain and boring, yet they were beautiful when put together. A puzzle, just like her. Yet somehow he gets the hint he hasn't figured her out yet, at least not fully.

"Shorty," Hanji deadpans. "You're staring." He looks away, unaware that he was inspecting her and picking her apart, bit by bit.

"Sorry," he says before turning around. What the _hell_ is he doing? _No,_ he tells himself. _There's nothing wrong with admiring my best friend._ He resorts to cleaning up the dishes in an attempt to clear his thoughts. "What are the plans for today?" he asks in an attempt to pick up conversation. He doesn't want her to think he's being weird, right?

"We're going to Mike's house at five," she answers. "Make sure you're ready by then. Because I won't wait!" She picks up her plate and washes it at the sink, placing it in a drawer nearby. "Well I'll be off," she says waving at him. "I need to get some of pépère's medicine from CVS, I'll see you a four thirty."

She puts on her clunky combat boots before heading out the door, leaving Levi with the dreadful fear that he's stuck alone in Hanji's house _with_ Hanji's grandparents.

Oh boy.

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji has trouble after realizing that her feelings for Levi are progressing into something bigger.
> 
> In other news, the duo pays Mike a visit. Although, stuff happens on the way there.

The first thing Hanji sees after walking through the door is the distressed look on Levi's face.

"Wow," she says looking at the scowl on his face. "I swear that look wasn't there when I left. What happened? You look like me when after I sit through one of Professor Shadis's boring psychology lessons with him blabbing on for what seems like an eternity." She hangs up her car keys and sets her wallet down before carrying a small paper bag with the CVS logo on it over to the kitchen.

Levi gives her a glare before gritting his teeth together and following her. "Your grandfather happened," he retorts as they keep walking, "that's what. Talking about psychological thrillers and crime novels can be fun up to the point where they runion the whole entire plot for you. So congratulations, I believe I won't need to read _The Bones of You._ " 

Hanji drops everything and gasps. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she asks in a deeper voice that seems to intimidate Levi. "I was actually looking forward to having you read that book. I thought we could sit together after you finished it and talk about the interesting plot points."

The raven haired man rolls his eyes. "Yeah," he scoffs. "Normal friends sit around and gossip about what's going on in their lives. We however, bond over crime novels and psychological thrillers." 

"We all have our quirks," she says with a shrug. She reaches a hand behind her neck and scratches it, a sheepish look gracing her face. "It's just that some of us have weirder ones than others."

Levi rolls his eyes before grabbing his phone from off the coffee table. "It's three thirty," he says turning it on and looking at the time on the lock screen. "We're going to leave at four thirty, right?" He sighs after receiving a lazy word of consent from the brunette. "So what are we going to do until then?"

Hanji grins at his question before remembering that she had dropped a few containers of expensive medicine. "Shit!" she exclaims before scrambling to the floor and picking them up. She quickly shoves the containers into the cupboard and sighs. "We're going to watch the latest rerun of Criminal Minds. I really wanted to show you since you're so interested in criminal psychology, but I couldn't since the latest episode came out last night while we were babysitting Sasha." 

Without another word, Hanji grabs him by the sleeve and drags him along with her to the living room. _I've gotta start wearing short sleeves,_ Levi huffs before practically being thrown onto the L-shaped sofa. "So let me get this straight," she says plopping down next to him. "You've never watched Criminal Minds?"

Levi shakes his head, an action to which Hanji gives him her classic shit eating. "Trust me my friend, you are in for a treat." The theme song to the show plays, and Hanji eagerly leans forward. "Not gonna lie," Hanji says looking over at him. "I've always wanted to be a criminal profiler."

"So why aren't you?" the man asks with interest. 

Hanji shrugs before leaning back, her head hitting the leather with a soft noise. "Too low a salary," she says with a sigh. "Pépère didn't approve. Besides, I'm studying psychology anyway. I was thinking about pursuing a career as a forensic psychiatrist."

"What's that?" Levi asks with a raised eyebrow. 

"It's a branch of psychiatry where a psychiatrist diagnoses a criminal with a disorder or problem," she says while picking at a fingernail. "Despite how much I want to stray away from that career choice, I can't. Mental illnesses and crime, they were a part of my whole freaking childhood." She sniffles before continuing, Levi giving her his full attention. "I never told anyone, but my mom attempted murder."

Levi looks at her as she curls into a small ball at the corner of the sofa. _That's it,_ he says before grabbing the remote and switching off the TV. What the hell just happened? Two minutes ago, they were talking about crime thrillers and criminal psychology, and here they are now, one mourning and the other listening. "Hey," Levi says scooting closer to her. "Shh," he lulls, "it's going to be all right."

 _Oh God,_ Hanji thinks before biting her lip. How long has it been since someone's last comforted her like this? She remembers grand-maman, comforting her all those years ago after she came home crying about rude things that all those people said. She moves closer to him and wraps her lanky arms around him. _That wasn't the last time,_ she says pulling him closer. _Grand-maman might've comforted me back then, but now I have someone else to do that too, even after she goes away. Someone else I love as well._

She pauses everything, crying included.

Her eyes widen and fear consumes her. _I love him,_ she repeats in her head. 

This is exactly what she didn't want, to fall in love. How can this be happening? It's only been a day since she's discovered her feelings for him, she shouldn't be thinking all this stuff. She shouldn't be thinking all this _shit._ She lets out a sniffle before breaking the embrace. _It's probably just fleeting,_ she says while scooting away from him. No one falls in love after one freaking day. She looks up at him, finding his usual scowl replaced with worry…and there's something else.

He looks scared. The god damned Levi Ackerman who's suppose to be the stoic and emotionless douchbag looks scared. That too for Hanji Zoe, a pathetic excuse for a human being. "Are you okay?" he asks reaching out to her. She jerks back as he makes contact with her. 

"Y-yeah," she says before grabbing the remote again. "Sorry about that, I just get a bit emotional at times." She looks over at him, expecting him to throw some kind of insult at her. Instead, he just sits on the other side of the sofa and stares at her.  _Just call me pathetic already. Call me spineless and weak. Don't just sit there and stare at me, say something._

"You're not pathetic," he says once again moving towards her. "You're one of the strongest women I've ever known." She looks up at him for a moment before biting her teeth. He's still here, despite seeing her like this, broken and torn apart. She places her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat both loud and clear, all while Levi runs his fingers through her slightly damp hair.

They stay like that for a while, slowly embracing each other. Levi continues running his fingers through her hair while she continues listening to his heart beat. Her eyelids are getting heavier and heavier as she clutches onto him, his heart beat lulling her to sleep.

Levi stops his fingers as he feels something wet fall on his chest. He looks down and finds Hanji asleep on his chest, her mouth open with drool slowly falling out of it. Despite being a clean freak, he doesn't care. _He doesn't care._ Instead, he smiles at her sleeping figure before lifting her up along with him. He sets her body on the sofa and takes off her ovular glasses. _She's so beautiful,_ he says while staring at her sleeping figure.

Wow.

Now that's something he never thought he'd say.

He looks around the room, hoping to find something to cover her up with. He spots a blanket on the small ottoman across the room and grabs it before gently draping it over Hanji's body. He takes one last look at her, just to satisfy the temptation. Her layered hair is slightly falling off the couch, shining due the shampoo she used earlier. His eyes later hover to her unique hawklike nose before trailing down to her lips.

Those fucking beautiful lips that he wants to kiss.

He shakes his head before walking away from her sleeping figure. This isn't the first time he's thought of a woman like this. The looks of women intrigue him every day, especially that god damned sexy Petra Ral. God, she's a queen in bed. He's had a lot of women, but none as tight and beautiful as Petra. His mind drifts back to a couple of weeks ago, when they were intimate in bed after their date. If he recollects correctly, it was about a week after Hanji moved in next door. It was a night he still hasn't forgotten, every detail still vividly clear in his head.

His thoughts quickly revert back to Hanji, and turns around and casts her one last glance, hoping it'll quench whatever it is he's feeling about her.

It doesn't, instead it makes him feel more complete than ever.

* * *

 

"It's four thirty," Levi murmurs while staring at Hanji's body on the sofa. She's knocked out and has been sleeping like the dead for the past hour, Levi still contemplating on whether or not he should wake her up from her peaceful slumber. 

Hanji starts stirring, sleep slowly fading away. She arches her back on the sofa and stretches out her long and lanky limbs. Her head turns to the right and catches Levi staring at her. She smiles at him sleepily, hoping for some kind of reciprocation. All she receives is a blank stare. Suddenly, realization strikes. 

"Shit!" she exclaims before sitting up on the sofa. She reaches for her phone and grabs it, only to fall off the sofa. She opens up the lock screen before letting out a screech. "It's four thirty eight!!!" she cries. She quickly gets up, only to find that Levi's still staring at her with that blank expression of his. "Levi!" she yells causing him to snap out of his daze. "Hurry up! We've gotta be at Mike's house at five."

"You're not even ready," he says looking at her as she frantically throws on her hoodie. 

She lets out a laugh which completely throws him off. "Are you kidding me?" she asks while quickly shoving on a pair of socks. "I use to go to school like this every day. I'm pretty sure it's fine if I show up at Mike's house like this." Levi rolls his eyes after hearing about her antics. 

"Well he's going to be surprised seeing that you haven't changed," he says while lazily standing up from the sofa. He's already wearing his socks seeing that Hanji's house is too cold to live in without warm clothing. He grabs his converse shoes and slips them on without hurry. Hanji does the same, except more frantically.

"Come on!" she says dragging him out the door with her. She locks the bottom lock from the inside before quickly locking the top one from the outside. "Let's go," she says running towards the car and sitting inside. She motions Levi to hurry, but Levi continues taking his time, an act that's getting in Hanji's nerves.

She rams her foot on the pedal and speeds off, Levi murmuring incoherent curses from next to her. The usual twenty minute drive to Mike's house is cut down to five minutes thanks to Hanji's excessive speeding. "Remind me to never get in the car with you," he says while sitting next to her.

Hanji let's out a huff before finally turning to face him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she asks. "You've been nothing but a grumpy pain in the ass today!" Levi turns away from her in an attempt to hide from her gaze. How's he suppose to tell her that what he's feeling towards her isn't _normal,_ that it's not how friends feel towards each other. 

"Nothing's wrong," he says still faced away from her.

"Tell me," she says softening her voice. "You know you can trust me with anything. If you don't want to share, then don't. But please, quit acting like a pain in the ass."

"Says the woman who was crying over her measly and pathetic life!"

Shit.

No.

He didn't mean to say that.

Hanji stares at him, in utter shock of what he just said. Her eyes narrow, those beautiful eyes he loved gazing into looking so affronted. "Yeah," Hanji says with bitterness that smacks him across the face. "You're right, I am pathetic and measly. It feels nice to hear that coming out of the mouth of my best friend." 

"Hanji, please!" he says reaching out towards her. She swats his hand away before getting out of the car. He follows her as she reaches Mike's door. "Please Hanji," he says reaching for her shoulder. "I didn't mean to lash out at you like—"

"Shut up!" she exclaims with a tear rolling down her cheek. "Just shut up! We're going to go in there and pretend everything's fine, okay? After that, I'm done with this shit. I'm done being your friend." She rings the doorbell, hoping Mike will answer soon so she can go back to pretending that everything's normal.

A few awkward moments later, the door is opened by a tall blonde man towering over both Levi and Hanji. "Zoe!" ha says pulling her into a hug. She reciprocates by pulling him closer, they both sway in the embrace while Levi stands there, glaring daggers into blonde. He pulls away from her and moves closer, sniffing the air around her. "Wow," he says backing away. "You smell like strawberries," he says before reaching out and gliding his hand through her hair that was thrown into another messy ponytail moments before their departure. "You're hair's much smoother too."

Mike averts his gaze at Levi, who looks back at him with a scowl that's meaner than usual. "You must be Levi," he says with a smile. "You actually managed to do the impossible. You managed to make Hanji Zoe take a bath!" Mike chortles loudly as Levi looks over at the brunette. There's a clearly evident frown on her face as she continues staring straight into Mike's chest, not turning around to face him.

She clears her throat before deciding to say something. "Let's go inside," she says with her voice croaking. Mike moves aside and allows both guests to walk inside. They remove their shoes and follow Mike into a small and cozy living room. "Wow," she says looking around. "Everything's so different from how I remember it."

"Yeah," Mike says while standing next to her. "With me off to Brown University, my parents decided to change the place up a bit. I asked them why and all they said was a hobby old people have." Hanji takes in the view, analyzing and trying to catch what's different.

"Oh my God!" she exclaims looking over at a glass showcase which is sitting next to the TV. It had pictures of the three of them that were framed and put inside along with one of Nanaba's old plushies. "You still have that?" she asks pulling out her phone. "I've gotta show Nanaba!" She takes a quick picture and sends it over to her friend, hoping to get an immediate—which she doesn't—reply. 

Levi on the other hand, stands far away from the two of them. He watches how Mike lays a hand on Hanji's back while pointing out and quizzing her on whether or not she remembers where each picture was taken. Mike turns towards Levi, noticing the ravenette standing in the corner and acting antisocial. "You should've seen her back then," he says with another laugh. "She was the science nerd who literally started _teaching_ the class. Her teacher got annoyed to the point where he had to hand her a detention slip."

"Hey!" Hanji says with a pout. "To be fair, Mr. Michaelis never thought us anything in the first place. All the girls would just ogle at him and his ass while he wrote on the smart board." 

"One of them being you," Mike retorts.

"Nuh-uh!" Hanji counters.

"I'll hold make some coffee," Levi says before making his way into the kitchen. He turns around and makes eye contact with her for a brief, only for her to break it. He shuffles through the cabinets and pulls out a small bag with StarBucks' coffee beans in it. He finds a coffee machine sitting at the edge of the countertop, which he puts to use. He stands there, staring at the coffee machine as it does it's work. A while later, Mike comes up to him with a smirk on his face.

"I smell tension," he chimes while earning a lazy glare from Levi. "You know, Hanji really likes you. Right now though, she looks pissed as hell." _Likes,_ the word rings through Levi's head. _More like liked,_ he says to himself. _Great, I had one friend and I couldn't manage keeping that either._

Levi huffs before looking up at Mike. Who's he kidding? This was Mike Zacharius he was talking to, Hanji Zoe's childhood friend. If anyone could give him advice on how to make it up to Hanji, it would be him. "I insulted her," he says looking back down at the countertop. 

"Well you must've insulted her pretty bad then," Mike comments. "Hanji's usually good at lying and hiding her feelings. You must've been able to piss her off to get her to act like this. What did you say to her anyway?"

"I told her that she has a pathetic and measly life," he says choking the words out. Mike stares at him with a bewildered expression.

"You did _what?"_ he asks while clenching his jaw. 

"You heard me," Levi says pulling the coffee pot out of the machine. "I got pissed off at the fact that she kept annoying me about how grumpy I've been, and I lashed out at her. Now she's pissed as hell and won't talk to me." He looks around, finding that Hanji's no where to be found. "Where is she?" he asks.

"In the bathroom," Mike answers. "Listen, if you want to make it up to her, you've gotta do it with no one around. Hanji will think of every excuse there is to escape your apology, and I know that because she's a genius. Don't let her do that. Find some time alone with her where no one she knows is around."

Levi nods before noticing Hanji come out of a small corridor, most likely where the bathroom's located. "I'm back!" she says approaching them with her gaze still on Mike. "What did I miss?" 

The rest of what she says is a blur to Levi, Mike's answer included. He slowly starts pouring the coffee into three individual mugs. His attention however, is focused solely on how he's going to apologize to Hanji. Maybe he could convince her to go out to a museum with him and apologize then. His thoughts are disrupted as he spills hot coffee on his hand. 

"Damn it!" he cries feeling the burn. 

"Levi you idiot!" Hanji exclaims while running over to him. She quickly guides him over to the sink and switches on the faucet. "How clumsy can you get?" she says while shoving his hand in the cold water. He throws his head back in relief, feeling the cold water envelope the minor burn. He opens his eyes and turns to Hanji, surprised at seeing her eyes filled with concern. She moves away from him and back towards Mike. "Pay more attention next time," she says before looking away.

The rest of the evening passes by in a blur. They talk and talk about old memories, Levi sitting in the corner while observing them. They also Skype Nanaba, who's more than happy to be talking to her childhood friend and old sweet heart. She's more or less impressed by the fact that Mike's chosen to grow a mustache.

Finally, the clock ticks eight and it's time for them to leave. They bid their farewells and get in the car, Levi contemplating on whether or not he should apologize. Worst case scenario is that Hanji gets even more pissed off and drives them rashly towards their death. Two minutes later, the raven haired man grows sick of the silence. "I'm sorry," he says quietly. He receives no reply. "I'm sorry," he says a bit louder. No response. Growing sick of silence as a response, he yells. "Hanji Zoe, I'm fucking sorry!"

"That's it," Hanji says before swerving into the nearest parking lot, which just happens to be from Baskin Robins. She parks the car and gets out, leaning her body wait against the door. Levi follows her and makes his way around the car. 

"I said I was sorry," he says touching her shoulder. She gasps at the touch but doesn't flinch or move away. "I wasn't thinking clearly when I said those things."

"Yeah?" Hanji challenges. "And I'm suppose to trust what's coming from a former thug who did nothing but steal for a living?"

Levi grits his teeth before slamming Hanji against the car. "I get you're upset at what I said, but don't you dare bring my past up again, especially since you only know the bare minimum about it. That's a card you don't get to play." He backs away from her, a terrified expression written across Hanji's face.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs. She was pissed at the fact that he said she had a measly and pathetic life, but she never meant to take it this far. She never meant to insult him because whether she likes it or not, she cares about him. She watches him as he once again goes aound the car and takes a seat. She flinches as he slams the door shut.

The rest of the night consists of nothing but silence between them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> Sorry for the sad stuff. I just felt as though I was emphasizing too much of their similarities and not many differences. I also felt as though I wasn't creating enough conflict.  
> But don't worry, they'll make up later. The story won't be able to continue without it.
> 
> \--Until Next Time, Jane_Doe_01


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji struggles with trying to apologize.

The next morning is spent with Hanji pondering about whether or not she should be the first one to apologize.

But he's the one who started it, she says to herself. If he hadn't said that my life was pathetic and measly, maybe none of this would've ever happened. But then again, I kind of crossed the line after judging him on his past as a thug. She smacks her hand against her head. God, I can't believe I did that!

The brunette lays in bed as the rich aroma of Eggs Benedict hits her nose. "Come on," she groans. At this rate, she'll be forced to starve—considering how Levi's the one who does the cooking and she doesn't have the nerve to go talk to him—to death in her own room.  
"That's it," she says picking up her phone. "It has to end, be it now or never." She quickly dials Nanaba's number, hoping that the blonde will pick up soon.

Nanaba on the other hand, is in the middle of her criminology class. The professor continues rambling on about how a person's history can later turn them into a criminal. She writes down quick and lazy notes, thinking more or less about Mike in the process. _He grew a goatee,_ she says to herself. _And a mustache. Just when I thought he couldn't get any more handso—_

Her phone rings, which is quite unfortunate considering that it's to the tune of All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor. Everyone around the room cringes before glaring at her, including her cranky roommate who's forced to hear that ringtone every time Hanji calls her. "Can I take this?" she asks slowly getting up from her seat.

"No," the professor deadpans. "Turn it off and sit back down." She does as he says and sits back down, powering her phone off as well. I am so gonna kill that woman after she gets back in town, she says to herself while gritting her teeth together.

Back in Chicago, Hanji continues staring at her phone before once again bringing it up to her ear. You are trying to contact Nanaba Zacharius, the irritating feminine voice says through the phone. The brunette chuckles remembering how that's always been her friend's caller ID, and how she was so against changing it. We are sorry to inform you that the person you are trying to reach is not currently available. Call back some other time for Nanaba Zacharius.

"God Nana," Hanji says before switching her phone off and setting it on the nightstand next to her bed. She then remembers that it's Thursday and that Nanaba has both her criminology class and her psychology class. "I hope she didn't get in trouble," Hanji murmurs.

There's only one other person who can help me with this, she says inwardly. I'm not going to like it, but it's not like I really have a choice.

Off she goes to find her precious Grand-maman.

* * *

 

Hanji approaches the currently closed door, wondering exactly how she should explain the current situation. She knows her grandmother's better at reading her than anyone else she knows. God knows what she'll do when the woman asks her why she's so concerned about apologizing to one simple man when she's never bothered apologizing to anyone.

She reluctantly knocks on the door, wondering if its too late to turn around and go back. "Come in," a frail and raspy voice says from inside the room. Hanji freezes up, unsure as to whether or not she should go inside and ask for her Grand-maman's help. Too late to turn back now, she says resting her hand on the doorknob. She twists it and opens the door, finding her grandmother seated on the bed with a cup of tea and a plate filled with Eggs Benedict.

"Zoe," the woman says seeing Hanji's blurry and lanky figure walk through the door. She takes another forkful of Eggs Benedict before happily stuffing it into her mouth. "Mmm," she moans. "You know, your friend is quite the cook. Have you tasted his Eggs Benedict? It's the best I've ever had, and quite frankly the best I'll have in a lifetime. Or this lifetime at least."

The brunette sits down at the foot of the four poster bed, staring down at the cream colored carpeting. "Grand-maman," she says with her voice breaking. She clenches her teeth together, remembering how she shows her emotions in the most extreme way possible when around her grandmother. She doesn't know how the woman's capable of it, but it's always made her come out of whatever mask she was hiding behind.

"Zoe?" the woman asks with concern. She slowly sets the plate on the nightstand next to the bed before grabbing her glasses. A sharp sting occurs in her chest, but that's not what's important. What's important is seeing what's gotten her granddaughter all worked up again. "What happened?" she asks.

The old woman motions Hanji to come towards her, and she obeys, coming closer before laying her head on her grandmother's lap. Cold and bony fingers run through her messy hair which is tied into a lame excuse of a ponytail. She frees her hair from the rubber band, a feeling of peace rising inside of her as her grandmother keeps running those fingers through them. "Zoe," the woman says quietly. "You can tell me anything. Did something happen with Mike last night, or was it with Nanaba?"

Hanji shakes her head slowly, feeling the silky fabric of her grandmother's nightgown shift under her head. "Was it Levi?" the woman asks only to receive a meek word of consent from the brunette. "What happened with him? Did he say something to you?" She nods before biting her bottom lip, a feeling of guilt overtaking her. "But it was also you," her Grand-maman states. "You said something to him too."

She nods again, surprised as to how her grandmother's still capable of reading her so well. What's she going to do once the woman's…gone? She would have no one to go to, to share her feelings with, or talk to. She needs someone who's able to read her without her needing to say anything. The only person capable of doing that besides her grandmother was Levi, and even she managed to ruin their relationship. "What did you say to him?" her grandmother quizzes.

The brunette sniffs before turning a little and looking up into her grandmother's eyes. Those beautiful eyes that she inherited. They were brown. A shade that's indescribable, not as dark as sepia, but not as light as chocolate. Instead, it was a deep and reflective shade of brown that had the ability to convey any emotion.

"H-he said that my life was measly and pathetic," she manages to choke out. "I-it hurt so much a-after hearing those words from him. I told him everything and surrendered myself to him, hoping he would be there for me and support me when I need him the most. But instead he said that I'm pathetic. H-he said it to my face!" She sniffles feeling herself calm down after her grandmother's fingers wipe away her tears and caress her face. "After that, he was trying really hard to apologize. I lashed out at him and brought his past up. I asked him if it was okay to trust a former thug. I didn't ask him in a nice way, it was more of a get-out-of-my-life way."

"It's okay," the old woman lulls. Hanji's mind drifts back to the evening before, when she was comforted by Levi. The way he lulled her wasn't different, and it makes her realize that she has to fix whatever the hell's going on. She doesn't care about who started or created this mess. She needs Levi, and she wants to be there for him when he needs her.

"That's not all," Hanji says with a hiccup. "I think I'm developing feelings for him." She feels the fingers caressing her face stop their motion. She looks up at her grandmother and sees those brown eyes looking down at her. This time, she's the one reading what it is that she's feeling. Terror.

The old woman has to admit, she's had high hopes for seeing Hanji and Levi together as a couple. Hanji's been pushed away by people throughout her whole life for something that wasn't even her fault. She use to be an angry little girl. Now that Hanji's developed feelings towards someone who's not in her family, it's worrying her. First love can be dangerous, and if this isn't it, then it just might break her precious Zoe.

Theoretically, Hanji finding out she has feelings for a man thrills her. In reality though, it makes her as scared as hell.

  
"Are you sure?" the old woman asks before once again combing her finger's through her granddaughter's hair. 

"Yeah," Hanji answers. "I'm sure. I'm also scared that whatever it is I'm feeling for him, it's turning into something bigger."

"It's scary," the woman states. "I know it is, but he's your best friend. Despite you carrying feelings for him, you can't forget that he's your friend." She remembers Hanji's childhood days, when she would easily annoy others by restating one thing over and over again. "Are you sure he didn't lash out at you because you said something he didn't like?"

Hanji gulps. "Well," she continues, "I did keep annoying him by asking the same question over and over again. He was in a really bad mood throughout the day and all I wanted to know if something was wrong. On top of that, I insulted him in a horrible way. All of this really is my fault."

The old woman places a small kiss on Hanji's forehead, causing the brunette to smile. "It's not anyone's fault mon chéri," the woman says. "People make mistakes. Just go apologize to him."

"But how?" Hanji asks taking her head off her grand-maman's lap. "He's been so nice and understanding. What I did last night was unforgivable." The brunette takes the woman's hand in her own. "What he did to me yesteday was exactly what you use to do. He cradled me and told me it was going to be okay, and guess what? His words had the exact same effect yours did. It made me wonder, since I love you, does that mean—"

"That you love him?" Grand-maman finishes off. She takes Hanji's chin and pushes it up, forcing the young woman to look into the older one's eyes. "That's a question only you can answer. There's many kinds of love, you just need to figure out exactly what it is you feel for him."

Hanji rolls her eyes playfully with tears still present inside them. "Grand-maman," she teases. "Can you for once not talk in a riddle?"

The older woman smiles, causing the younger one to reciprocate. "Zoe," she says in a soothing voice. "Life's a riddle that's meant to be solved. Don't ever forget that." The brunette once again rolls her eyes before getting off the bed. "Where are you going?" Hanji's grand-maman asks. 

"To apologize," Hanji says after turning around. "It's not really something I'm good at, so I better start now." Her mind drifts off to how she would never apologize to anyone while she was still in grade school, thinking it was their fault everything went wrong. _It's time to realize that I'm wrong,_ she says while heading out the door. _It's time to practice and become a better person._

She stops in her tracks, reaching just outside the door. "I love you grand-maman!" Hanji blurts out after quickly sticking her head through the door. She sticks around to hear a quick 'love you too,' which she does. She sprints down the stairs and into the kitchen, seeing that Levi's not there. She finds it surprising considering that he made Eggs Benedicts for her grandparents.

 _He's still mad at me,_ she thinks with a frown. A huff makes it's way out of her mouth. _I'm not going to give up until after he forgives me._ She makes her way over to a cupboard and pulls out an antique and expensive tea set. Next, she fishes through one of the sideboards and takes out the wooden box filled with expensive teas.

 _He said he likes black tea,_ she thinks. _Should I go with it, or should I opt for something less traditional?_ Her eyes veer over to the Earl Grey, which she remembers her pépère being particularly fond of. "Let's go with this," she murmurs before pulling out an electric kettle. She pours in the water and waits for it to reach boiling point, from there setting a single Earl Grey leaf in each cup. She then resorts to pouring the water in.

She hears a shuffle come from behind her. Her reaction is pulling a knife out of one of the utensil drawer and aiming it behind her. "Oh it's you," Hanji says with relief after spotting Levi. She sets the knife back inside the drawer and closes it, turning back to Levi. "Do you like your tea with sugar or no sugar?" she asks trying her best not to sound desperate.

"Sugar," he replies. "One teaspoon." 

"Right," she says before taking a container of sugar out of a nearby cupboard. She pulls out a teaspoon and mixes a spoonful of sugar into one of the cups. Her cheeks grow hot while feeling his gaze on her. She felt…naked. "H-here," she says turning around her and handing him the cup. He accepts it with a blank look on his face.  _I'm not apologizing wrong, am I?_

He takes a sip and continues keeping his gaze on her as she turns her back towards him. His eyes hover from her greasy ponytail, to her lengthy back, and finally over to her ass, which is the one part of her body that's not concealed by loose fitting pajamas. 

God help him.

"I'm sorry," she says putting everything down on the countertop and turning around. She looks at him in the eye, hoping to get some kind of response. An _I forgive you_ or _It's okay_ would be better than him just standing there and not saying anything. 

Instead, he keeps silent, merely observing her desperate attempt at apologizing. He takes a sip of tea and almost ends up coughing it out, forcing himself to drink it and get it down his throat. "This tastes like gutter water," he comments. Hanji's face falls from desperate to hopeless.

"Oh," Hanji says looking away. "I'm sorry then." He has a feeling that her sorry isn't just about the undrinkable tea.

"It's okay Shitty Glasses," he says with her face still turned away. He grabs her jaw and swiftly turns it to him, forcing her to look into his eyes. "About last night," he continues, "I'm sorry too. You might've pissed the hell out of me, but that gave me no right to say the things I said."

Hanji smiles that sweet smile of hers before taking a sip out of her tea. "I don't get what's so bad about this," she comments. "It tastes like warm juice if anything, something all tea should taste like."

Levi rolls his eyes at her before raking his hair with his fingers. It's wet at the sight, a sign that he just came back from taking a shower. "The only reason behind why you think tea tastes like warm juice is because you don't have the tongue for it. Once you have enough tea, you'll realize that you screwed up on making Earl Grey by 150 percent."

"Well then, maybe you'll teach me," she says.

"Maybe I will," he retorts.

"Maybe when you teach me, I'll end up listening."

"I doubt that," he deadpans causing Hanji to laugh.

"Hey," she says while reaching out and taking his hand. "Thank you for what you did yesterday, not to mention what you've been doing for me since the time we met and became friends."

"It's no problem," he says placing the empty tea cup on the countertop. "So, what's the plan for today?"

Hanji shrugs. "We've been doing what I want throughout the week," she states. "I think the two days we have left should be planned by you."

Levi thinks for a moment before finally coming up with an answer. "How about the Lurie Gardens?" he asks. "I think our weeks been quite hectic, and I also think that we could go somewhere filled with peace. But of course that won't happen because you'll probably end up doing your research before heading off there, and then you'll spout a bunch of creepy botanical facts."

"How are botanical facts creepy?" Hanji asks.

"They're not," he replies. "You find a way to make them though."

Hanji punches him playfully, glad that they've made up. Yet a small part of her still isn't happy with the fact that they're still friends. It hits her, and it hits her hard.

She doesn't want to be his friend.

She doesn't want to be his neighbor.

Hanji just wants to be his.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter was disappointing. I just really wanted to portray the relationship Hanji and her grandmother share, especially since she's had a rough childhood.  
> I'll try and add more juicy levihan scenes in the next chapter. A quiet garden is pretty romantic, even for someone like Levi.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I kind of got disheartened by this story so I guess I pushed it aside and completely forgot about it. But after reading the comments and seeing how much you guys liked it, I got motivated to resume this story.
> 
> I want to thank you all for supporting my writing, both this and my other work "A New Beginning."
> 
> Enjoy!!!

"Nanaba!!!!!" Hanji screams into the phone as Nanaba picks up. The blonde winces at her friend's voice, wondering what exactly has her friend so hyped up.

"What's up?" Nanaba asks. She's relieved that her friend isn't calling her in the middle of a class or at three in the morning. She's sitting in the library now, busy studying for her criminology class. Apparently, the teacher's an asshole and scheduled another test within days of the one they took before.

"I'm going out to the Lurie Garden with Levi," she says causing Nanaba to perk up. "And by the way," she says switching the topic around, "I'm sorry for calling you in the middle of your criminology class. Levi and I finally managed to make up after all the shit that happened yesterday."

"What shit happened?" Nanaba asks before closing her books and moving them to the side. She earns an evil glare from the college librarian who then tells her to shut up. The blonde glares back, mouthing the words 'fuck you' before going back to her phone. Who cares about that librarian, Nana—for one—never liked her anyway.

"Okay," Hanji continues. "We were in the car when I _accidentally_ pissed Levi off." Nanaba scoffs at that, remembering how Hanji always pissed Mike off by asking him the exact same question _over, and over, and over again._ "What?" Hanji asks defensively. "It was an accident!"

"So anyway, I pissed him off and he kind of crossed his boundaries and made _me_ mad. On the way back from Mike's house, I kind of brought up his past and insulted him, which pissed _him_ off."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Nanaba says stopping Hanji from continuing. "What did he say that got you mad?"

"He said that my life was measly," Hanji continues, "and that it was also pathetic."

"What?!" Nanaba practically screams. She earns another glare from the librarian. "Go to hell," Nanaba says before shooing the annoying woman away. "Just so we're clear," Nanaba says into the phone, "I wasn't talking to you. It's that damn librarian who's always glaring and telling people to shut up." 

There's complete silence from the other line which gives Nanaba time to wonder. Hanji must really like Levi if she's okay with him saying stuff like that. Normally, the brunette would rip someone's head off if they insulted her, as according to her childhood. But the situations here are way different when they come to Levi.

"You're not in love with him are you?" she finally manages to ask. The question almost sounds comical. Hanji Zoe, the mad scientist falling for someone when she barely has the time to differentiate between her educational life and her personal life. Hanji's breathing speeds up, and it's so labored that Nanaba can practically hear it from the other end. "Hanji?"

"No," Hanji lies. "I'm not capable of falling in love with a short clean freak like him. Anything and everything we have is purely platonic." Why is she lying? That too, _to Nanaba_ of all people. Is she embarrassed by the fact that she's falling from him? Levi's short, grumpy, and has issues against her hygiene. She shouldn't be falling in love with a person like that. And even if he does like her, it won't take long for him to lose interest in her.

No, that's not the reason why. It's not him she's embarrassed by, it's herself. Someone as wrecked up as her doesn't deserve a sweet and kind guy like Levi. 

She doesn't deserve Levi.

She doesn't deserve any love at all.

"Alright," Nanaba says pushing the topic aside. "But you said that you insulted him on his past. He wasn't a serial killer, was he?"

"No," Hanji answers. "He was a thug and his mom was a prostitute who conceived him from a client. She died due to pneumonia or some other kind of a disease, I don't remember what exactly."

"Zoe," Nanaba warns. "You shouldn't have told me that. Levi seems like a man with a small social circle with an even smaller circle of people he trusts. You're a part of that circle. Don't you think you're breaking his trust by telling me this stuff?"

"You're right," Hanji agrees. "I should really stop talking right now. But anyways, I made him tea this morning which he thought tasted like gutter water, but he _drank it_ nonetheless _._ We're going to the Lurie Garden today, and I'm scared because it's a teeny bit…romantic."

"But you're not in love with him," Nanaba states. "So what's the big deal?"

"Yeah but that doesn't mean that I'm not falling for him!"

"Oh."

"Uh huh."

"Well good luck," the blonde says wholeheartedly. "You sound like you'll need it. Remember what happened with Guren in our freshman year of high school?"

"Yeah," Hanji says before giggling. "He kissed me and I really liked it until he started using his tongue. I got so freaked out that I bit his tongue before kneeing him in the crotch." A devious smile appears on the brunette's face. "So what about Mike? Are you still writing fanfiction about the two of you falling in love or are you going to actually make a move on him?"

"Psshh!" Nanaba scoffs. "Oh please! I'm living like three hundred miles away from him. Anyways, I did talk to him last night. He says he's coming home from Brown University on Christmas break. It's time for me to hatch a plan on how to win over my little Mikey Wikey!!!"

"Mikey Wikey?"

"Hey!" Nanaba exclaims defensively. "You have your weird hobbies, I have mine. And mine just so happens to be staring at the ceiling and making up so-called adorable names for not so adorable people. Except Mike, Mike's adorable."

Hanji chuckles at her friend's flustered state. God knows what will happen once she _actually_  becomes Nanaba Zacharius. "Alright my little fan girl," she continues, "I've gotta go get ready for my little, ahem, _meeting_ with Levi."

"Good luck!" the blonde states.

"Thanks," Hanji starts, "I'll need it."

Hanji hangs up the phone before walking over to her closet and enthusiastically yanking it open. It was filled with dresses she hadn't touched since she left for Harvard. Well, at least these would come to her use now.

And that's when Hanji Zoe starts plotting her devious plan on how to win Levi Ackerman's heart.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was short. I kind of have to reread the past fifteen chapters and refresh my brain on the minor and major details. I promise I'll treat you guys too a better chapter which won't take me any more than a week to write.


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